By Charlie Charalambous
THE ADMISSION by Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides that he bought luxury flats from building contractors at below the market price was termed a “classic case of bribery” by his accuser Christos Pourgourides yesterday.
“Everything that he (Michaelides) has admitted has completely underlined the validity of my allegations,” Pourgourides said during a Radio Proto interview yesterday.
The Disy deputy hit back at the minister, whom he accuses of becoming a multi-millionaire during his term in office, after Michaelides on Friday denied all the allegations made against him.
Before leaving for New York, President Clerides publicly backed his minister, but Pourgourides yesterday said this was before Michaelides gave his less-than-convincing response to the allegations on Friday afternoon.
In yesterday’s two-hour Radio Proto interview, Pourgourides, who is chairman of the House Watchdog Committee, called on Michaelides to resign, saying the minister’s concerted effort to clear his name had only raised issues that further undermined his position.
Referring to Michaelides’ detailed response to the charges, Pourgourides said the minister had confessed to buying two luxury apartments at half price from developers J&P and from the Zachariades group.
“Purchasing the properties at half price indicates this person (Michaelides) obtained the flats for services given or for services that were expected from the minister by the businessmen,” said Pourgourides.
“This can only be viewed as a classic case of bribery or unlawful enrichment.”
Pourgourides questioned whether it made good business sense for a company as successful as J&P to sell property at a loss if it did not expect anything in return.
“Nobody today sells a flat for half its value without wanting anything in exchange.
“If not, why don’t they sell flats at half price to the rest of us?”
Pourgourides has charged the minister with, among other things, accepting gifts of plush apartments in return for securing government tenders for contractors.
During the press conference from his government office on Friday, Michaelides said he had bought a luxury apartment in Limassol’s exclusive Gulf Palace complex from J&P for £50,000 – £20,000 in cash and £30,000 financed by loan.
The minister said he had paid off the loan from money received in renting the flat, but this explanation did not impress the deputy, who is also a practising lawyer.
Pourgourides made some calculations of his own yesterday:
“Let’s say he paid off the £30,000 loan over four years; this would put the rent at around £1,000 a month.
“For a flat to be rented for £1,000 a month, the value of the property must be £300,000 minimum.”
Another claim that he had received a Limassol flat on the cheap from the Zachariades group was dismissed by the minister, when he said on Friday he had bought it from a foreigner who wanted a quick sell because he was leaving the country.
But Pourgourides responded in the radio interview by claiming no such declaration had been made to the Land Registry Office, which instead listed the flat as having been sold by a Zachariades group company.
“He has practically confessed to kickbacks from J&P and Zachariades,” the deputy said.
And the companies allegedly involved in such deals were also guilty of bribery, Pourgourides warned.
“If a wealthy businessman offers a minister a flat for half its value that is also bribery.”
His attention later focused on the minister’s statement concerning a £150, 000 Bank of Cyprus loan to buy shares in a high-profile company.
“There was no mention of any mortgage; we would all like to secure bank loans on those terms,” Pourgourides said.
“Obtaining bank loans on personal terms not given to other citizens is a form of bribery. If it isn’t, I don’t know what is.”
Michaelides said on Friday his 20 per cent share in Gala Development Ltd had been financed by a loan from the Bank of Cyprus.
“Any public figure may have a better chance of securing a bank loan than any other citizen, but this is not illegal,” he insisted.
Michaelides is also accused of having illegally obtained property worth millions abroad, allowing building relaxations for financial gain, issuing hundreds of residence visas for kickbacks and not declaring the true value of his property to avoid payment of duties and property transfer tax.
Faced with 14 counts of corruption and unlawful enrichment, Michaelides has refused to tender his resignation.
He has dismissed the allegations as lies and said they are motivated by Pourgourides’ own personal and political interests.
However, the House Watchdog Committee chairman believes that Michaelides has criminal charges to answer, and wants to see the Attorney-general Alecos Markides appoint an independent investigator.
“In Europe and Canada, ministers have been sacked because they accepted a free airline ticket to go on holiday.”
Pourgourides has denied that his anti-corruption crusade is based on “personal and political criteria”.
The deputy claims he has received death threats over his revelations; he is understood to be receiving police protection and is reported to have been granted a permit to carry a gun for his own protection.
