THE NICOSIA District Court yesterday remanded Anorthosis Chairman Andreas Panteli in custody for three days while police investigate six charges of theft, forgery and concealment, in a case that has left fans reeling after the recent exhilaration of their unprecedented Champions League run.
Case investigator Sergeant Pieris Neocleous yesterday told the court that 48-year-old Panteli was arrested at 11.30pm on Friday following allegations made to the police by seven of the 15 members of the Board of Anorthosis football club. Documents were also seized during a search of the offices of a company owned by Panteli.
The seven Board members had accused the Anorthosis Chairman of theft of €418,498 in cash from the proceeds of the Champions League, and attempting to embezzle €500,000 from the club through false pretences, allegedly trying to siphon the money to a personal account.
Neocleous told the court that police were investigating cases of forgery, distribution of false documents, theft through an agent, theft, attempted theft through false pretences and concealment. The alleged crimes are believed to have been committed between August and November 2008, in the districts of Nicosia and Larnaca.
Panteli denies the allegations.
The court heard that four statements had been taken from family, friends and colleagues of the suspect and at least 40 more are expected. Later in the day, team Coach Temuri Ketsbaia and players Lukasz Sosin and Yiannis Skopelitis went to Police Headquarters to testify in connection with the case.
The suspect’s lawyer, Yiannos Ioannou, made an appeal to Judge Michalis Papamichael to grant his client two-hour leave to attend the Club’s emergency board meeting scheduled for 6pm yesterday on the grounds that all the evidence would be presented and Panteli’s presence would be vital.
Papamichael left the decision to the police, who later decided not to grant Panteli the leave for security reasons.
Ioannou told the judge his client “respects the police and therefore has no objection over his remand”.
He added that far from stealing from the club, his client “had repeatedly dug into his own and his family’s pockets to bail out the team”.
Through his lawyer, Panteli told the court he would co-operate fully with the authorities “in order for the truth to shine”.
Panteli’s opponenets on the Board claim problems have been mounting up for some time. Anorthosis vice-president Antonis Demetriou yesterday told reporters a Board meeting had been held before Wednesday’s Champions League match at home to Werder Bremen but the club decided to wait until Friday to act.
“Unfortunately the excuses given to us [by Panteli] were unfounded … He asked for more time [until Friday] to give us further details… we were not given any justification and were obliged to proceed by alerting the police,” he said.
Panteli had issued a statement before his arrest insisting he had done nothing wrong: “There were never any financial discrepancies. Any actions were taken in the full awareness of the board of directors and were always done with the best interests of the club at heart.”
He claims the money was used to pay various club dues to players, agents and transfer fees, and says he can provide the receipts to back him up. But police are investigating allegations that those payments had actually already been made from other club sources.
Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas yesterday called on Anorthosis supporters to remain calm. “In the next two to three days, we will have a complete picture of the case.”
“The whole issue has shocked the public. The CID will approach this case cautiously and no one will be victimised. At the same time there will be no cover up.”
On Friday evening, around 30 supporters gathered outside Larnaca police station demanding explanations from the Board members, who were escorted away from the premises by the police and a private security company.
Overnight, vandals scrawled abusive slogans on the walls of the Anorthosis offices against members of the Board and a private land development company and in favour of manager Temuri Ketsbaia.
Police patrolled the area of the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca all night Friday and last night.
Extreme security measures are being taken by the police to prevent any incidents during today’s match between Anorthosis and Atromitos Yeroskipou.
Anorthosis on Wednesday drew 2-2 with Werder and are third in Group B, two points adrift of leaders Inter Milan and one behind Panathinaikos. They need to win their last game against Panathinaikos next month in order to qualify for the last 16 of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
