A NICOSIA businessman yesterday testified against two men – one a former archbishopric chief accountant – claiming that they had blackmailed him out of £100,000.
State Prosecutor Alexia Shapanis has accused Ionas Alexandrou and Chrysostomos Philippou of multiple counts of blackmail and theft that allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000.
According to the first charge in the indictment, “the defendants between June 5, 1999 and March 2, 2000 intended to steal £100,000 by means of using threats against Athos Panayiotou, a hotel company director, informing him that if he didn’t pay them the above mentioned sum, then they would act with the purpose of overturning agreements made between the hotel company and the Archbishopric with regards to the renting out of certain lands.”
Alexandrou, who acted as first secretary to the former Archbishop, and Philippou, the former chief accountant at the Archbishopric, are also charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and demanding money with use of threats with intent to steal and conceal.
They deny the allegations.
Yesterday, Athos Panayiotou was quizzed by defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou, who accused the businessman of fabricating lies against the two men, something he repeatedly denied while on the stand.
During his cross examination by the state on Monday, Panayiotou, who is the police’s key witness in the trial, presented to the court cheques that he had made out to the defendants saying they were written “under the duress of blackmail”.
He added: “I am sure that some of the money was winding up in the pocket of Chrysostomos Philippou. I once told Ionas that I didn’t want Chrysostomos coming to me also demanding me to pay him. Ionas told me that a part of the cash was going to Chrysostomos, so I didn’t have to worry”.
Panayiotou also told the court that he was forced to add a section entitled “commissions” into his accounting books because of the alleged payments made to the two defendants.
He also claimed to have received a phone call from a mutual friend of both Alexandrou and himself pleading with him to withdraw his complaint with the police.
“This person told me to pity Ionas’ wife and children, which I did. But I didn’t feel that withdrawing my complaint would have been the right thing to do,” said Panayiotou, adding that Alexandrou was offering to pay back £90,000.
In February this year, Philippou, along with the former Archbishop’s chauffeur, was cleared of allegations of embezzlement and fraud in another case at the Nicosia Criminal Court after being accused of defrauding the Church of around £300,000.
The trial continues.
