By Angelos Anastasiou
POLICE investigation into misleading or false public statements regarding Bank of Cyprus’ capital adequacy by former officials has been concluded and the findings will be evaluated by the Legal Services before deciding on prosecutions, Attorney General Costas Clerides said on Thursday.
Clerides convened a meeting with lead investigators looking into Cyprus’ economic meltdown in order to discuss the Bank of Cyprus case, as well as difficulties holding back progress with regard to investigations into former Laiki Bank officials.
“On completion of the investigations, the police will prepare a report including its suggestions,” Clerides told reporters after the meeting. “But they are merely suggestions – the final say on whether cases can be filed, and if so, against whom, rests solely with Legal Services.”
Clerides and his deputy, Rikkos Erotokritou, asked for an update from police investigators on the progress of various cases, one of which is nearing completion and will be delivered to Legal Services for further action.
According to Clerides, the cases relate to “some offences already penalised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, for which it has imposed fines.”
Last June, financial watchdog CySEC broke precedent when it imposed a total €8m in fines to former officials of the two banks in connection with these cases.
The fines were issued against 12 former BoC officials, including former CEO Andreas Eliades, his successor Yiannis Kypri and former board chairman Theodoros Aristodemou, each fined €530,000, and 11 Laiki officials, including former strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos and his right-hand man at the bank Efthymios Bouloutas, each fined €705,000.
CySEC head Demetra Kalogirou recently said the Commission has yet to collect on the fines.
A similar case against now-defunct Laiki Bank officials is being built by the authorities, but practical issues appear to be holding back investigations. However, Clerides appeared confident that the Laiki case will also be concluded soon.
“The claim I heard recently – that no investigations are being carried out with regard to Laiki Bank – is baseless,” he said. “On the contrary, investigations regarding Laiki are ongoing. Specifically, it spans the period from 2005-2006, when the lender’s shares were taken over, until its collapse in 2013.”
“This prosecution is just the beginning, not the end,” Clerides said of the Bank of Cyprus officials’ indictment.
Meanwhile, according to daily Phileleftheros, two British experts commissioned to assist police with the investigations started work on Wednesday, with two more scheduled to start on Monday.
However, the paper said, the purchase of a €600,000 computer server that was green-lit by the Finance ministry last May to help with cross-referencing the names of those involved in various cases, has yet to materialise.
