A MAN fainted in court yesterday upon hearing that he had been found guilty of defrauding a bank and stealing around £450,000.
Renos Efthymiou and a clerk from the Kapedes village Co-op bank, Ourania Charalambous, were yesterday found guilty of theft, fraud and conspiracy after the vast amount of money went missing in 2003.
Upon hearing the verdict from the three-judge panel, Efthymou, 44, collapsed on the bench he was sitting on while Ourania, 40, burst into tears.
The hearing was immediately adjourned while lawyers, relatives and police officers revived him. An ambulance was called but by the time medics arrived at the Nicosia courthouse, Efthymiou had regained consciousness.
The hearing, which is taking place at the Nicosia Criminal Court, resumed around an hour later.
The final mitigation plea by the defence team will take place next Friday before sentencing is carried out.
A third man, who was also believed to be involved in the scam, was acquitted by the Nicosia Distinct Court earlier this year.
The theft came to light when the Co-operative Banks’ Watchdog Service discovered a significant amount of funds missing from the accounts of the Co-op in the quiet mountain village.
Efthymiou gave himself up to the authorities in May last year accompanied by his lawyers.
He had recently been staying in the north.
When Ourania was questioned, she immediately confessed to being involved in the scam, admitting she had cashed several cheques for Efthymiou despite knowing there was no money in the accounts.
According to her statement, she had been promised by Efthymiou that the entire sum would be paid back by June 24, 2004 and that she would receive around £50,000 for assisting the scam.
But Efthymiou’s statement when initially arrested pointed the blame at a third man who he stated was the mastermind behind the heist.
Efthymiou told investigators that the other man needed the money because he wanted to buy a hotel in Bucharest adding that he was just his messenger.
His claim was yesterday dismissed the judges in their ruling on the case.
If found guilty, both defendants could face up to ten years in prison.
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