Police probe mafia bribe claims

By Charlie Charalambous

POLICE chief Andreas Angelides yesterday ordered a probe into allegations that his men were taking bribes from the Romanian and Ukrainian mafia to strip cabaret girls of their assets.

According to yesterday’s Politisfront-page story, Cypriot police are on the take from underworld flesh traders ripping off Moldovan, Bulgarian and Romanian lap dancers trying to leave the island after a lucrative stint on the cabaret circuit.

Apparently, underworld gangs are extorting money from leaving girls packing their hard-earned dollars in their suitcases, with the threat of reprisals when they get back home.

If the demands – to hand over at least half the booty – are ignored, the police are then allegedly bribed to stop the girls at customs.

Police rifle through their luggage and confiscate the money on the pretext that the women are breaking currency export regulations, according to Politis.

Allegedly, this money is then shared out between the gangs, who are given details about the cabaret girls’ movement and finances by a network of informers.

“The report does not refer to any specific evidence, but conveys indefinite information, which is being investigated following instructions by police chief Andreas Angelides,” said yesterday’s police statement.

But the police were also eager to point out that any checks concerning the illegal export of foreign currency were well within the law.

“And there is no hesitation in taking strict measures against any members (of the force) implicated in illegally exercising their duty with blackmailers and flesh traders,” the police statement added.

The police also called on the media and the public to come forward with substantiated accusations, rather than cast speculative shadows over the force.

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.