Remand for suspected car scammer

Limassol district court on Thursday remanded in custody for six days a 26-year-old man suspected of running a scam, duping people into handing him down-payments on luxury cars that were supposed to be imported from the UK.

Police had arrested the man on Wednesday, after locating him at the Athalassa psychiatric hospital in Nicosia where he was being treated for the past few days. The suspect was detained after permission from the doctors.

Initially police said they had received complaints from nine people alleging to have paid the man – between May 2015 and January 2016 — some €143,000 in down-payments for cars that would have been bought in the UK.

According to an updated police statement, the number of complaints has now risen to 13, with the total amount allegedly scammed now standing at over €200,000.

Police did not rule out more people coming forward with complaints against the suspect.

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