Pair re-arrested in TEPAK fraud case

TWO suspects linked with ongoing police investigations into financial irregularities at the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) were reportedly re-arrested on Thursday.

The two are Zenon Achillides, head of TEPAK’s property management service, and a 51-year-old contractor.

Achillides was arrested last Friday in connection with the alleged forgery of letters of credit to architects.

The contractor, two of whose companies had undertaken work on two university buildings, had been arrested last Sunday on arrival at Paphos airport. On Monday he was remanded in custody for four days.

According to reports, three forged letters of credit were found in his company’s file at TEPAK’s archives by the Audit Service.

He faces charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, forgery, circulating forged documents, bribing a civil servant, abuse of power and obtaining unlawful income from illegal activities.

Police had placed the suspects under arrest following a complaint filed by the TEPAK board and a report by Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides.

According to Politis, the two men have now been re-arrested in connection to a different case.

The paper has long been covering alleged financial mismanagement and malfeasance at TEPAK.