Charges dropped in car assembly scam

CHARGES have been dropped against five people accused of importing luxury vehicles in the form of spare parts and subsequently assembling them and selling them without paying the necessary taxes.

Nicosia High Court Judge Tefkros Economou had the charges dropped after stating there was not sufficient evidence against them. The accused were Ioannis Panayiotou, 51, a senior police officer from Lakatamia; his daughter Andri Panayiotou, 26, manager of the company ANE Cars Ltd.; Antonakis Nikiforou, 52, a car mechanic from Platy; Leonidas Parpas, 50, a car inspector at the Transport Department from Kaimakli; and Yiannakis Athansiou, 55, the head of Inspection at the Transport Department, from Nicosia.
The accused were brought to the court with their lawyers on Wednesday, where state lawyer Lefteris Panteli informed the court that he had orders from the acting District Attorney-general to ask the court to drop the five charges pending against the accused, due to insufficient evidence. The five had been charged with illegal import and assembly of luxury vehicle parts, conspiracy to defraud, foul play, illegal registration of motor vehicles and violations of customs laws.

The allegations referred to events at the end of 2000 and the start of 2001. After the statement by Panteli, Judge Economou acquitted the accused.

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