FRENCH footballer Christophe Ettori was arrested in Larnaca on Friday night in connection with various crimes, including the harbouring of a fugitive wanted by Europol on armed robbery and attempted murder charges.
The 27-year-old AEK Larnaca, along with his wife and his sister, was yesterday remanded in custody for eight days by a Limassol court yesterday, meaning that he will miss his side’s crucial cup tie with Omonia this coming Tuesday
The AEK star is being charged with forgery, being in possession of forged documents, extracting money under false pretences, harbouring a fugitive and intention to steal.
Police also arrested 26-year-old Albert Jerome, the boyfriend of Ettori’s sister who was staying as a guest in Ettori’s Larnaca apartment.
Jerome has been sough recently with a European arrest warrant in connection with an armed robbery of a security truck transporting money and attempted murder that took place in Bastia in France.
The 26-year-old was also remanded for eight days with the Frenchman most likely to be extradited back to France. On the same arrest warrant is the brother of Jerome, 32-year-old Alexandre Vittini, still being sought by the French authorities in connection with the same crime.
It is believed Jerome entered Cyprus with the passport belonging to the leader of a criminal gang, Vincent Gabotti Valzelemi, which committed the robbery and that Jerome had simply changed the photograph.
According to police sources, Jerome, who was under surveillance from the Cypriot and French police, was arrested while he was having his hair cut at the salon which happens to be in the same building as Ettori’s apartment. Upon his arrest, Jerome simply shrugged his shoulders. He reportedly said “as soon as I saw the French officers coming towards me, I knew that was it”.
Police then moved onto apprehend Ettori, his sister and his wife at the player’s apartment upstairs were officers also discovered clothes and other items believed to have been purchased from a shop in Limassol with a fake credit card.
Police also found £11,821 in cash, believed to have been withdrawn from ATM machines with the same credit card as well as machine for making counterfeit money.
The Assistant to the Chief of Police Sotiris Charalambous said that the police on the island knew of Jerome;s presence for some time before his arrest.
“Police have been surveying the suspects for five days and the actual arrest was only delayed after a request from Interpol. According to what Interpol have told us, Jerome is part of a criminal organisation and is considered highly dangerous.”
He added that police also had information that the fake credit cards were brought from France and that one of the cards was recently used at an ATM machine.
AEK is in shock with fellow midfielder Nagoli Kennedy describing the arrest of his team-mate as ‘absolutely shocking’.
“He was a very nice guy, always polite and courteous. I knew that something was wrong when he didn’t turn up for practice on Friday, because that wasn’t like him.
“There was talk going around the ground that he had been arrested but no one knew for sure why and I was stunned to find out the reason in the end. He will also be missing from our next game in the cup against Omonia which is a huge blow for us.”
Meanwhile AEK’s Bulgarian-Cypriot coach told the Sunday Mail that he also never suspected anything unusual with Ettori.
“Things are obviously very bad right now for the player and there isn’t really too much to say. I didn’t have a problem with him – he seemed alright, from a professional point of view. We are all very disturbed by the whole incident.”
Signed from French second division outfits US Créteil-Lusitanos by AEK chairman Thomas Kyriakou, Ettori has also played for SM Caen and Gueugnon in the French leagues whilst he also had a brief stint with Greek side Ionikos two seasons ago.
During his seven-year professional career, he has scored eight times and has been a valuable part member of the AEK squad this season.
