POLICE and customs officials have been fingered in a report into a botched police investigation during the assembled luxury car scam last September, Phileleftheros reported yesterday.
Deputy Attorney-general Petros Clerides and Police Chief Tassos Panyiotou were unavailable for comment on the issue yesterday.
According to the paper, the findings of an investigative committee headed by the former president of the Supreme Court, Demetrakis Stylianides, revealed that police and Customs officials were guilty of poor organisation and execution of duties and failure to comply with specific instructions from deputy Attorney-general Clerides.
Citing reliable sources, the paper said the operation undertaken by police and customs officials against suspects had possible criminal implications and warranted disciplinary action.
The report was delivered to Cabinet on Wednesday and later passed to Attorney-general Alecos Markides and police chief Panayiotou. Markides will examine the 50-page report before making a final decision on whether it implicates criminal responsibilities. Panayiotou will decide on disciplinary action against police members involved in the operation while the Civil Service Commission will be informed regarding disciplinary action against Customs officials.
According to the paper, responsibility for the botch-up job also lies with high-ranking police and customs officials. On September 19, police and customs officers raided a car sales yard in Nicosia as part of investigations into the assembled luxury car scam, which rocked the police force, implicating law enforcement and government officials in its web. A discrepancy in the search warrant forced customs officers to return to headquarters to rectify the mistake. Meanwhile, two people were seen burning documents inside the apartment while police waited outside. Despite calls to stop the burning of potential evidence by the deputy Attorney-general, police failed to intervene, citing the absence of a valid warrant.
The report refers to omissions and negligence on the part of police and customs, while claiming there had been inadequate organisation and insufficient personnel, the paper said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
