HUNDREDS of board members of companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) could face court action in connection with the 1999 market bubble, which saw thousands of small investors lose their life savings, House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides said yesterday.
Pourgourides said there were 50 to 60 companied currently under investigation on suspicion of taking money from investors, without having submitted the necessary paperwork with the company registrar.
Three independent criminal investigators have been appointed to look into the cases; 10 cases are ready to go to court, while investigations into the rest are expected to be completed by April, the Watchdog Committee chairman said.
He said the cases involved 300 to 500 board members, who could be facing justice within the next few months.
He said he was not satisfied with the speed at which the cases were moving, stressing he was not taking a shot at Attorney-general Solon Nikitas, but at the service he headed.
But he added the current Attorney-general had a greater obligation to bring the cases to court than his predecessor Alecos Markides, who had argued the law on evidence needed to be changed for him to prosecute those involved in the scandal.
From the moment the current Attorney-general believes the law on evidence does not need to change, he has every reason to expedite the investigation, Pourgourides said.
The outspoken DISY MP, who had earlier presided a joint meeting with the House Finance Committee, told deputies that the committees’ report on the 1999 scandal would not be ready by the end of this month as initially scheduled, but at the end of the next.
The committee also discussed whether it was authorised to look into the plundering of insurance and providence funds, which were sunk into the CSE and subsequently lost.
AKEL deputy Andros Kyprianou questioned whether the House could investigate the boards of these organisations.
Pourgourides said the House could not investigate, but could probe into whether the government auditors had done their job effectively when examining the matter.
DIKO deputy Zacharias Koulias charged that some people had taken a lot of money from insurance funds, saying this was a serious problem warranting investigation.
Pourgourides suggested summoning the company and insurance registrars and the Finance Minister, and then proceed from there if any wrongdoing was revealed.
The committees agreed to summon the Attorney-general on February 4 and the Central Bank governor on February 11, for further discussion of the matter.
