Two convicted of stealing almost half a million pounds in bank fraud

A MAN and woman found guilty yesterday of defrauding a bank and stealing around £450,000, will find out next Thursday how long they spend in jail.

Renos Efthymiou and a clerk from the Kapedes village Co-op bank, Ourania Charalambous, were found guilty by the Nicosia Criminal Court on November 9 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 courtroom was yesterday packed with friends and relatives of the two defendants who sat without emotion in the dock and listened as their defence lawyers pleaded with the three-judge panel to show leniency.

During yesterday’s mitigation hearing, Efthymiou’s defence lawyer said his client had committed the offence, but should not be looked at as a criminal, judging by his clean record prior to his arrest.

But his assertion that his client was also at a “later” age, was dismissed by the smiling Judge Yiasemis Yiasemi, who said, “The defendant is 48 years old. I don’t think that qualifies him as a man at a later age in his life”.

A third man, who was also believed to be involved in the scam, was acquitted by the Nicosia District Court earlier this year.

The theft came to light when the Co-operative Banks’ Watchdog Service discovered a significant amount of money 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.

Both defendants could face up to ten years in prison.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.