WITH THE magical promise that they could multiply money, scammers have been getting some Cypriots to part with thousands of euros, police yesterday said.
Two men, a Syrian, 38, and a Cameroonian, 33, were yesterday remanded in custody for seven days by Larnaca District Court in connection to a money scam.
Their relation to two separate incidents is being investigated, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.
In those cases, scammers would start with a demonstration of their ‘powers’.
“Say they had a ten euro bill. They would wrap it up, do their hocus pocus and with a sleight of hand they would then produce €50,” Katsounotos said.
“Some naive people actually believed that these scammers could transform money,” he added.
One incident took place in Paphos, where one person parted with €15,000, expecting to get much more in return when his money would magically increase in number and value.
The unfortunate Paphos resident told the police how he saw his money wrapped first in aluminium foil and then in a towel.
The scammers then placed the bundle under a rock and told the man it would take 24 hours for the magic to work.
That was the last time he saw any of it.
Two others in Nicosia were also equally unlucky when they parted with a total of €33,000 which instead of multiplying disappeared along with the ‘magicians’.
Then in Larnaca, CID were tipped off that a money laundering operation was taking place in a district restaurant.
Police searched the place on Monday and found the two foreigners locked in the mezzanine along with two powdered bundles of notes in aluminium foil, tape, black dust, and a bottle containing white dust and suspected chemicals, all confiscated for further testing.
Police think that the confiscated equipment were used to put on a show of ‘magic’ – as part of the scammers’ demonstration of their ability to multiply money.
During the remand hearing yesterday, the Syrian denied doing anything illegal while the Cameroonian pleaded guilty, claiming that the former promised to demonstrate the procedure to him.
The exact nature of the relation between the two is still unclear, Katsounotos said.
“We call on the public not to be so gullible and show naivety in these kinds of fantastical contrivances,” Katsounotos said.
