Best man behind bars over forged euros

A SCOTTISH couple’s dream wedding has turned into a nightmare as three of her guests, including the best man, are currently sitting in a Paphos jail facing serious charges of money forgery.

The three holidaymakers from Scotland were arrested in Kato Paphos on Sunday night, for possession and circulation of counterfeit €50 notes.

Today the trio should be attending the wedding of a couple from Scotland; which is the purpose of their visit to the Cyprus.

Sources close to the bride and groom spoke of the disbelief and devastation that swept through the wedding party after the men’s arrests. In particular, family and friends have been sharing their sympathy with the bride, who is reported to have cried for hours upon hearing her guests were locked up and her dreams of a perfect wedding shattered.

Guests at the five-star hotel in Paphos, said they believe the wedding is to have a nautical theme, with forty or so attending. All the guests flew in especially for occasion.

Although the groom was reported to be suitably shocked by the turn of events, and had no knowledge of the forged notes, he is apparently thanking his lucky stars that he was not with the trio at the time.

The trio were nabbed at the weekend after paying for goods in a kiosk with a €50 note, which was discovered to be a fake. The shop owner called police, and the men attempted to flee.

A search of the men uncovered a further note with the corresponding ID numbers of the fake note.

A further four €50 notes were found at the men’s apartment, all bearing the same ID number.

Police believe the men were aware they were passing counterfeits due to their attempt to flee. All three were placed on an eight-day remand order on Monday morning.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.