Officials face fines for failing to declare assets

MAYORS, mukhtars, councillors and members of semi-governmental boards who did not submit a capital statement will pay a £1,000 fine.

Attorney-general Petros Clerides made it clear on Wednesday that there was no way out of the decision made by the three-member Cabinet committee to fine those who failed to submit their statements.

On top of the £1,000 fine, the committee decided on Monday that law-breakers would be charged a further £30 for every day they failed to pay up.

Clerides said the Legal Services were obliged to collect the fines from board members and dignitaries. He pointed out that if they wished to conceal their assets, they should not have pursued such posts.

“From the moment that the committee has imposed a fine, either a financial fine or anything else, and the Attorney-general’s office has been appointed to collect it, the Attorney-general’s office will collect the fines that were imposed. It is our obligation,” the AG said on Wednesday.

“This concerns public money and it must be deposited in the public fund,” Clerides added. “The members of these councils or all the other dignitaries who should have submitted the relevant statements should have done so in time.”

A total of 1,184 mukhtars and community board members have been fined by the three-member committee for failing to submit their capital statements in time.

Furthermore, 147 mayors and councillors, along with nine members of semi-governmental boards have also been penalised.

This means that 1,340 people have been summoned to pay £1,000 each.

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