FIVE people have so far been remanded on suspicion of conning consumers by placing a special mechanism on petrol pumps.
The owners of the four stations named by Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis on Monday – two Lukoil stations in Nicosia and Larnaca, as well as two Total Plus stations in Nicosia and Paphos – along with the assistant manager of one of the stations are all in remand, while two other men are wanted in connection with the case.
Paphos District Court yesterday issued a six-day remand for a 60-year-old man from Strovolos, who owns a number of stations across the island, including the one in Paphos where the special mechanism was found.
He is believed to be the mastermind behind the scam, which has seen a so-far-undetermined number of consumers be conned out of 5.0 per cent of every litre of fuel bought.
The case investigator told court that police found undeniable evidence that the 60-year-old’s petrol pumps had been tampered with in the Tremithousa station in Paphos.
The suspect, who is facing charges of fraud, has joined another four men who have been arrested and remanded since Saturday, when the case came to light. A 52-year-old petrol station manager and his 26-year-old assistant, both from Paphos, were remanded on Saturday, as were the owners of the Larnaca and Nicosia Lukoil stations.
The police are now in search of another two men from Russia, who are believed to have installed the dubious mechanisms. The case investigator said the police had witness reports that the two men were spotted checking the pumps in question by connecting them to laptops and counting the fuel that was being taken out.
Meanwhile, Minister Sylikiotis yesterday promised MPs his ministry would step up efforts to prevent such incidents in the future.
He said these would include more intensive inspections – day and night – as well as special training for the ministry’s staff so they are aware of all the new techniques and scamming methods.
MPs, on the other hand, promised to approve any measures and laws that would help in this direction.
“The ministry’s services have worked very systematically in cooperation with the police over recent days,” said Sylikiotis, adding that his ministry planned to carry out 2,500 inspections on petrol pumps in 2012 alone.
Committee Chairman, DISY’s Lefteris Christoforou, said Cypriots often fell victim to crooks and fraudsters.
“We are ready to support and approve any new measures to reinforce the Commerce Ministry’s checking services, but also to reinforce legislation so it acts as a deterrent for anyone to carry out similar kinds of scams against Cypriot consumers,” said Christoforou.
Ministry spokesman Artemis Aspris said the mechanism in question was high-tech and admitted the ministry’s officials were not trained sufficiently to deal with such cases.
He also said that the four suspicious stations had been operating for just under a year.
The head of the petrol stations’ association, Stefanos Stefanou, explained that the fraudulent system could in fact be activated – or deactivated – by a mobile phone, which was why it wasn’t in action when the state officials carried out their routine checks. He said the pumps were programmed to give 5.0 per cent less fuel than what they showed.
Stefanou said the extent of the scam was easy to estimate, if one considered the four stations made a €16 million combined profit in the past year, with 5.0 per cent of that being around €850,000.
He was also keen to clear the name of oil company Lukoil, which he said was separate from the businessmen who have been remanded for the scam. Stefanou asked for the suspects’ business licences to be revoked.
Lukoil’s legal adviser, Kyriacos Kousios, said even though the company was the one that first brought the matter to light by reporting it to the police and commerce ministry, it was now being punished with a dramatic drop in sales after the names were announced.
The stations under investigation are: Total Plus on Amochostos Avenue in Nicosia; Lukoil on Tseriou Avenue in Nicosia; Lukoil on Artemidos Avenue in Larnaca and Total Plus in Tremithousa Paphos.
