Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides on Thursday denied that his office unlawfully obtained financial information relating to Opap Cyprus Ltd, a subsidiary of the Greek gambling giant.
A day earlier, Opap had called a news conference where they claimed the Audit Office had obtained financial data that was not publicly available, and that therefore the Audit Office – in investigating the company – had acted illegally.
Opap has filed a complaint against the Audit Office to the police, the Central Bank and the Personal Data Commissioner.
Responding, Michaelides insisted the information was obtained lawfully via a whistleblower.
He said this information – pointing to suspicious financial transactions between Opap Cyprus and an individual living overseas – had formed the basis for the launching of a criminal investigation by the police.
Last summer, police opened a probe against Opap into potential conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit felony, forgery, circulation of forged documents and fraudulent appropriation or keeping of false accounts, which may have been committed against the Republic.
As an investigation is still underway, Michaelides revealed only generic information. He said the suspicious financial data in question relates to monthly wire transfers made from a bank account held by Opap in Cyprus, to a person living abroad.
Every month Opap would wire this person the same amount. Police have the beneficiary’s name, age, and the bank to which the money was sent.
But according to Opap, this type of information is confidential and thus must have been obtained illegally.
Opap further stated that police had earlier looked into this data and found nothing untoward.
The affair goes back a year, when the Audit Office initially obtained the information. At the time, the auditor-general was looking into the agreement between Opap and the Cypriot state.
Michaelides has repeatedly stated that the state got a raw deal relating to Opap’s operation on the island. As a result, he claims, the government is losing millions a year in potential additional taxes payable by the betting agency.
During the course of scrutinising Opap’s revenue stream, Michaelides’ office was contacted by a whistleblower who provided the wire transfers information.
This information was passed on to police, who opened an investigation.
On November 8, 2017 Opap secured a court injunction that voided the police search warrant that was in effect.
The injunction was issued after the court found fault with police procedures.
That temporarily stopped authorities from taking the investigation further. A month later, however, police repeated the search warrant procedure, this time correctly, and the probe resumed.
Opap denies any malfeasance and says it has nothing to hide.
Once a state-run outfit – founded in Greece in 1958 – Opap turned into a joint stock company in 1999, and in 2013 the cash-strapped Greek state sold the majority of stocks to Emma Delta Hellenic Holding Limited, a Greek-Czech group.
Based on the interstate agreement between Cyprus and Greece, Opap is the only company allowed to run lottery games on the island. The deal was signed when Opap belonged to the Greek state.
Some argue that since the Greek state is no longer a shareholder, Opap’s special status should be abolished.
