Suspect in Vgenopoulos case extradited

Michael Fole, a former manager at now-defunct Marfin Popular (or Laiki) Bank who had been wanted by Cypriot authorities, was extradited by Romania on Tuesday.

He is suspected of having played a part in the payment of €1 million bribe by Focus Maritime, an offshore company held by Greek ship-owner Michalis Zolotas, to former governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus Christodoulos Christodoulou.

Fole was arrested last month after Cypriot authorities secured a European warrant for his arrest in connection with the Focus case.

Zolotas is considered to have been acting on behalf of Andreas Vgenopoulos, the Greek financier who controlled Laiki from 2006 to its nationalisation in 2012, months before it was wound down.

Fole’s name has also been linked to suspected illicit transfers made on Vgenopoulos’ instructions.

Vgenopoulos, also on the charge sheet, died earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Fole is expected to be brought before a judge for a remand order.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.