By Angelos Anastasiou
A COURT has ordered the lifting of banking secrecy concerning former Co-operative Central Bank boss Erotocritos Chlorakiotis, his wife, and several companies they ran, as well as former Strovolos Co-op boss Demetrakis Stavrou, it was confirmed on Friday.
The orders were issued at the request of police investigators probing financial crime, who are looking into whether due procedure was followed in granting several loans adding up to €15m to Chlorakiotis.
Investigators will now gain access to their accounts in every bank in Cyprus.
Chlorakiotis is being investigated on counts of forgery, circulation of a forged document, and violations of the banking operations law.
According to sources cited by Friday’s daily Politis, investigations are almost concluded and the filing of charges is only a matter of time.
But, the paper added, investigators are no longer focusing on whether the loans Chlorakiotis received were backed by adequate collateral – it appears that they were – but whether procedures were adhered to.
Unnamed sources close to Chlorakiotis cited by Astra radio station said he and his family are stoically enduring press reports surfacing every so often and are keen to see these cases taken to court so that they can offer their own responses.
But, the source said, Politis’ report at last acknowledged that all of the loans were secured by adequate collateral, which was not the case thus far.
They added that the true aim of the reports is not the individuals named in them but to justify the change of the co-operative movement’s character over the last two years.
The movement has in the past given hope to the public and helped out the government in dire economic conditions, a role it has now abandoned.
Last May, investigators raided Stavrou’s home and seized documents and other evidence.
Meanwhile, Politis claimed that the recent sacking by Finance minister Harris Georgiades of two board members, Yiorgos Strovolides and Demetris Theodotou, and the resignation of another, Athanasios Stavrou, are not unrelated to the Chlorakiotis investigation, particularly with regard to reported difficulties in furnishing investigators with requested information.
The CCB board remains headless, after former chairman Nicolas Hadjiyiannis replaced executive director Marios Clerides, who resigned in June, leaving vice-chairman Charalambos Christodoulides with the duties of interim chairman.
