Co-op clerk arrested for suspected embezzlement

POLICE yesterday arrested a 26-year-old clerk after an audit found that over half a million pounds had gone missing from the Engomi Co-operative.

Epaminondas Epaminonda from Larnaca, was remanded in custody for eight days after a snap audit in the co-op’s accounts showed that £524,600 had vanished.

The audit had been ordered by the Ministry of Commerce. Police sources said yesterday the case was thought to be connected with stock market speculation.

According to reports, the alleged embezzlement took place between March 15 and September 1999.

On Saturday, Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkadji said officials at “three or four” co-operatives had issued cheques of up to £150,000 to brokerages, though she made clear they had simply exceeded their own personal overdrafts and were not suspected of embezzlement.

A report was being prepared by her office for submission to Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis.

The four-week closure of the stock market to clear a mountain of paperwork is thought to have left speculators exposed, unable to sell shares to repay their initial investment.

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