Four in Ayia Fyla co-op case released

FOUR of the six suspects implicated in the Ayia Fyla co-op dodgy loans scam were released on bail on Wednesday while the other two remain in custody.

They face a total of 180 charges for handing out up €9.5 million in 22 irregular loans after property prices were inflated as part of a scam with the case referred to Limassol Criminal Court for October 27.

The land developer aged 54 who is believed to be the mastermind in the case will remain in custody as he could not find a guarantor to pay his €150,000 bail, as will his company manager, aged 42 because as a Greek national, he does not have close ties to the island that would prevent him from leaving.

A previous member of the co-op committee, aged 65, the bank’s secretary, 55, the loan department chief 43, and his assistant, 40 were released on a €100,000 bail while they submitted their travel documents and were put on a stop list.

Another previous co-op committee member, aged 66, was released without charges.

Police are still searching for a 49-year-old woman believed to be abroad.

Suspects were allegedly finding people who had financial problems and in exchange for money they were presented as guarantors for loans taken by the contractor or his company.

Several of them were allegedly picked out from betting shops.

The papers signed by the paid volunteers were later converted and the signatories were unwittingly turned into principal debtors.

The contractor and three other co-op employees are suspected, among other things, of having conspired with valuators to inflate the going market price of properties so that commensurately inflated loans could be approved.

The suspected irregularities were reported to police in March 2015, after the findings of an internal audit at the co-op were forwarded to the Legal Service.