The head of an association that fights for the rights of divorced women said yesterday that Alpha Bank was pursuing her to pay off her ex husband’s €1.7 million in debts, even though he was not bankrupt, and had assets that could be sold.
Loulla Savvidou, head of the Pancyprian Divorced Women’s Association, had signed as a guarantor for the loan but she said that in 2003 when she divorced, she immediately took action in order to be removed as his guarantor and as guarantor for his businesses.
Savvidou says the bank did not pursue her ex in order to sell the equipment “worth millions” in his factory to pay back his loans but instead decided to go after her personal property. She stressed that he had not declared bankruptcy, which would have justified the bank going after the guarantors of a loan.
“Usually the first thing that a bank do is sell off assets, not go after me and my property,” said Savvidou. “I will not pay with my mother’s, father’s or my grandfather’s fortune,” she added.
For the last four to five years Savvidou has been in and out of the courts and is now without a lawyer. “It’s been one and a half years now that I haven’t had a lawyer and if I’d had a lawyer who had stuck by me the job would be done by now,” said Savvidou. “No lawyer is willing to go up against the banks here,” added Savvidou.
As a woman who feels wronged and also as the head of the Pancyprian Divorced Women’s Association, Savvidou asks that the law be changed to protect women in such situations. She asks for the establishment of a committee to check existing loans to see who ought to be paying them.
Irini Charitou manager of Alpha Bank commented that the case was currently being handled by the Paphos District Court and the bank would prefer not to discuss the issue as “it may be construed in a negative light or interfering with the course of justice.”
Michalis Kammas, general manager of the Bank Associations, although aware of Savvidou’s case, also was not willing to comment for the same reasons. Kammas said that this was a social problem that a section of their clientele goes through, but that the bank deals with these issues in a sensitive way. Savvidou is currently not paying any of the money back.
