By Andria Kades
Authorities on Thursday arrested a sixth person implicated in an Ayia Fyla cooperative banking scam and were searching for two more individuals linked with the dodgy loans case.
The man, 69, is expected to appear before a court on Friday where police will request that he be remanded in custody.
Coming up for a renewal of their remand order on Friday will be three former members of the Ayia Fyla coop – the treasurer, the head of the loans department and his assistant – as well as the 54-year-old contractor, believed to be a key figure in the affair.
Also on Thursday, the driver of the contractor implicated in the case was remanded for five days at Limassol District Court for his involvement in the case.
The court heard the driver, 52, would work on behalf of his employer, the contractor under custody, approaching people with financial problems and in exchange for money had them sign as guarantors for loans taken out by the contractor or his company at an inflated price after conspiring with property valuers.
The papers signed by the paid volunteers were later converted into guarantee documents and the signatories were unwittingly turned into principal debtors.
According to witness statements cited in court, the 52-year-old would also ask them to vote for certain people during the co-op’s committee meetings, in exchange for a petty cash reward. On certain occasions he would even drive these people to the co-op meetings.
As heard in court, in one instance the driver approached a man on welfare, proposing to the latter that he become a guarantor for a loan. When the man said that would present a problem because of his status as a welfare recipient, the driver told him not to worry and that he would take care of all the paperwork.
The 52-year-old’s name also appears on a loan approved by the branch for buying a piece of land. He claims he met the contractor at a horse racing club in 2005 who proposed he sign as a guarantor in exchange for money and later on started to work as his driver.
The defence lawyer did not object to the remand order.
The contractor and the three co-op employees were arrested last week as suspects for their involvement in the case which deals with alleged offences committed from 2006 to 2009, relating to 22 loans adding up to €9.5m that violated due procedure.
Police investigations reveal the numbers could rise to 110 loans for a total of €25m.
Arrest warrants have additionally been issued for two more persons, 45-year-old Iordanis Kostekoglou, a Greek national, and a 49-year-old woman.
Police believe the woman, an associate of the contractor, may be abroad. It was revealed that she has had previous run-ins with authorities. Kostekoglou is suspected to be in the northern part of Cyprus.
The suspected irregularities at Ayia Fyla were reported to police in March this year, after the findings of an internal audit at the co-op were forwarded to the Legal Service.
Ayia Fyla was merged into the Limassol Cooperative Bank as part of last year’s bailout agreement where the government injected €1.5bn into the Cooperative Central Bank and forced many cooperative societies to consolidate and become more efficient.
