By Angelos Anastasiou
THE trial of five former Bank of Cyprus senior officials, as well as the bank itself, over public statements misleading investors made in 2012 will resume on April 2 before deciding on the defence’s motion to dismiss or suspend the case, the Permanent Assize Court ruled on Friday.
During Friday’s session, defence attorneys argued in favour of a mistrial incumbent on the principle of double jeopardy, as all defendants were fined over €2m in June 2014 by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the charges they are currently facing – though CySEC’s announcement had deemed these “administrative” fines.
Counter-arguments from state prosecutor Polina Efthivoulou will be presented on April 2.
Referring to the facts of the case as compared with those underlying the CySEC fine, defence attorney Polis Poliviou argued that “there is no doubt that the factual framework behind both cases is the same”, and presented case law supporting his definition of abuse of process.
Poliviou added that the Bank of Cyprus’ appeal with the Supreme Court – asking for the dismissal of the case – argues that the CySEC decision is void and illegal as a result of the committee’s misinterpretation of legal clauses.
“The CySEC acted on a fallacious understanding of both the facts and the law,” he argued.
“The Supreme Court will need to decide whether CySEC’s interpretation of the law is correct or not.”
The BoC’s appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court on April 7.
Defence attorney Demetris Araouzos cited a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the nature of the punishment imposed by CySEC constituted criminal proceedings.
“The CySEC made its decision without allowing any of the defendants – besides the Bank of Cyprus – present their side on the issues,” he noted.
Araouzos added that in England prosecutors and the corresponding oversight bodies coordinate their action when it comes to investigating such offences, while such coordination does not take place in Cyprus.
“Allowing these proceedings to go on will result in the abuse of time and money, and cause unnecessary frustration,” he told the court.
In addition to the Bank of Cyprus, also accused are the lender’s former board chairmen Theodoros Aristodemou and Andreas Artemis, former CEOs Andreas Eliades and Yiannis Kypris, and former deputy CEO Yiannis Pehlivanides.
They are facing charges of conspiring to defraud and manipulate the stock market in connection with “failing to inform the public that the [Bank of Cyprus’] capital needs had increased significantly from the €200m reported on May 10, 2012”.
