POLICE have detained a 29-year-old Larnaca man on suspicion of extortion, threat of violence, and a series of other possible offences allegedly committed earlier this week.
On Wednesday, police said, a 41-year-old businessman from Larnaca reported that in the early hours of the day he had been threatened by four men into paying them large sums of money.
The businessman said it was around 2am and he was at a nightclub with a female former employee who at some point decided to climb on the bar to dance.
One of the four men, who had been sitting at an adjacent table, got up and told off the woman. The two had words and the suspect asked the businessman to pay his bill and leave the establishment.
The complainant opened his wallet to pay and at that moment the suspect saw that he was carrying a lot of money.
He then asked the businessman to follow him outside for a talk. The two were accompanied by the other three men who had been sitting with the suspect.
According to the businessman, the suspect said he knew where he lived and threatened him that he had a video of him and the woman, demanding money to keep them from telling his wife.
The businessman said he was scared by the suspect’s threatening behaviour and his associates, and decided to give them €500 to keep silent.
However, the suspect grabbed the man’s wallet and took all the money, some €4,000, before returning it.
The man’s ordeal apparently did not end there.
The four men continued to threaten the businessman seeking more money, claiming they had a gun.
The group ended up in a hotel with the businessman telling the suspect that he would go to the bank in the morning to get them the cash.
The suspect told the man that they were going to stay with him until the morning and then accompany him to the bank.
At around 8.30am, the businessman drove the suspect and the others to a co-op bank where he withdrew €2,750 and handed it over,
Before dropping them off at the location of their car, near the Larnaca courthouse, the suspect demanded an additional €10,000 by lunchtime of the same day.
Following the complaint, police examined footage from the bank’s security cameras and identified the suspect whom CID officers knew well.
Police said while the businessman was giving them a statement he had received messages and calls from a number that appears to belong to the suspect.
They were also told that someone matching the suspect’s description had gone to the area where the businessman lived and asked around to find out his house.
