Counterfeiting public servant gets suspended sentence

A PUBLIC servant was yesterday given a three-year suspended sentence by a Nicosia Court after pleading guilty to charges of forging army documents.

The 55-year-old man, who works at the state laboratory and who is a reservist of the National Guard, had pleaded guilty to 24 charges of forging military documents so he could skip work days between 2000 and 2003.

Public Servants are allowed to have the day off if they have been called in to perform a service for the National Guard the day before. Reservists around the island are called in between three and five times a year to either stand guard at a military post or take part in a military drill.

But employees at his work got suspicious when the man kept presenting army documents which stated that he was being called in for military duty.

An investigation at his work and the army camp where he is listed ensued and the man was charged in November 2003 by Nicosia police when it was discovered that he was presenting false army documents to his superiors – something which the military takes very seriously.

The man had been photocopying his army calling paper and changing the dates.

Defence lawyer Dinos Paspallides told the court that his client had made a mistake but not for his own reasons but because he wanted to spend time with his ill father who is currently at the Oncology Centre in Nicosia.

“He is truly sorry for what he did, but he was simply acting out of worry for his father who is unfortunately not very well”, said Paspallides.

Judge Nicos Yiapanas ruled that the offence was very serious and despite the intentions of the accused, it was imperative that justice be served.

He sentenced the man to six months for each of the 24 charges before reducing it to a three-year suspended sentence in light of the man’s motives, his clean record prior to the offence and the fact that he is married with a daughter that is still at school.

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