Wanted traffic cop ‘committed suicide’

A TRAFFIC policeman found dead in his Limassol apartment on Saturday is thought to have committed suicide after being linked to a fake euro scam.

The autopsy carried out by State Coroner Eleni Antoniou on Sunday found respiratory problems had caused his death and that this could have been from the use of anabolic drugs. Antoniou ruled out the possibility of a criminal attack.

But according to Politis, Neophytou had left three letters in his apartment before his death. The first was meant for his lawyer, the second for a friend and the third was addressed to his parents, where he apologised to them for the pain he had caused them and asked them to forgive him.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Neophytou, who was thought to be involved in the euro fraud. The 30-year-old had been suspended from the force while previous allegations against him where being investigated. He had reportedly been involved in the import of anabolic steroids from Bulgaria and illegally charging foreigners £600 for residence permits.

On Friday, four people were arrested on suspicion of fraud, after exchanging counterfeit euros with a Turkish Cypriot bureau de change owner. Police were investigating the possible involvement of the traffic policeman.
The notes are thought to have originated from Bulgaria or Romania and made their way to Cyprus via Greece, where fake notes with similar characteristics had been found in the past.

Cypriot authorities are said to be working closely with Interpol and Europol on the matter and are carrying out investigations whether there are other similar counterfeit euro notes currently on the island.

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