CENTRAL Bank governor Christos Christodoulou yesterday berated Politis for its “crusade” against him, after the paper claimed the Auditor-general had informed the governor that additional benefits granted to him breached regulations.
Christodoulou said he refused to answer Politis’ latest revelations, and referred journalists to his legal action against the newspaper.
The paper yesterday claimed that Christodoulou had been informed by Auditory-general Christalla Yiorkadji on October 4, that the matter regarding his addition benefits breached the rules and could only be approved by the President.
Yiorkadji yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that it was not her position to comment on the newspaper’s paper’s coverage but admitted there had been an exchange with the Central Bank regarding the two additional benefits.
“The additional benefits were not forwards to our office and we only found out about them after they were mentioned in the first article by Politis,” she said. “We later found out that, due to an error, the wrong document was sent to our office instead of the correct full accountable document noting the new benefits.
“We informed the Central Bank board and governor about the two benefits, namely the travel expenses for his wife and the appointed driver, saying that only the President could approve those types of benefits.”
However, Yiorkadji stressed that no crime had been committed. “We cannot say that something illegal has happened, simply because he has not yet used any of the above-mentioned benefits.”
Politis, however, claimed Christodoulou has already used one of his benefits by having the expenses for his wife accompanying him on a trip paid for by the Central Bank.
Replying yesterday, Christodoulou issued a statement saying he would not dance along to Politis’ tune.
“Politis newspaper, in its continuous crusade against me, has yet again publicised unsubstantiated and vilifying comments. I have already answered previous accusations from the paper and will not get involved in their latest repetitive statements.
“My legal advisors have already filed a complaint against Politis for libel damages made against me in previous publications by the paper.”
The paper said yesterday its initial claims had been justified by the Auditor-general’s intervention.
The additional benefits at stake, which were not included in his original contract of appointment, are: travel expenses for the governor’s wife when accompanying him on official visits abroad, a privilege reserved for the President of Cyprus and the House President, according to the paper; and a driver and a car for the governor after his retirement.
