THE Turkish Cypriot authorities are co-operating with British police in the hunt for fugitive Sean Lupton, who is wanted in connection with the £32 million sterling Securitas robbery in the UK in February 2006.
According to Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper, British detectives raided addresses across the north on because they believed Lupton, 47, may be hiding in a mountain village near Kyrenia.
“Highly credible intelligence” obtained by British police said Lupton had made high-spending visits to casinos and nightclubs. “The police have been told that he has been rather injudiciously splashing his money around,” a source told the newspaper. “He can’t stop himself spending, apparently, and has also been picking up a lot of prostitutes from clubs on the island.”
The Mail on Sunday said that Lord Ahmed, a member of the British House of Lords, was sent last week to the north and held meetings with Mehmet Ali Talat and Turkish Cypriot police.
According to Turkish newspaper Bilge, Lupton, who has been in the island for a year, was tracked down at the occupied village of Ayios Epiktitos through his mobile phone.
A taxi driver has said that he was paid to smuggle Lupton in with Turkish Cypriot brothers Hussein and Mustafa Basar from the free areas of Cyprus to the north. But British police reject the claim. The brothers have also been connected with the robbery. Lupton’s phone records indicated that he called the north within hours of the robbery.
Talat reportedly promised Lord Ahmed that he would return Lupton when he is arrested even though, being unrecognised internationally, the ‘TRNC’ has no extradition process with the UK. Turkish Cypriot police have instructions to arrest Lupton on sight.
Five men were jailed in Britain in January for the Securitas raid. The robbers kidnapped depot manager Colin Dixon and his wife and child before stealing £53 million. Only £21 million was recovered.
“But Lupton, a builder who is married with two teenage children, vanished later that year while on bail after being questioned about the robbery a month earlier,” said the Mail on Sunday.
Lupton was last seen in Britain in near Folkestone and police believe he went by ferry to France. The British newspaper said Lupton’s wife was convinced he was murdered by the robbery mastermind on the day he disappeared.
Police believe he travelled to Cyprus with suitcases full of cash.
Police on the Greek Cypriot side were not consulted prior to the police raid in the north, Justice Minster Kypros Chrysostomides said yesterday. He said it was an issue for the Foreign Ministry.
