17th remanded in Ayia Fyla loan scam

LIMASSOL district court remanded a 70-year-old man for five days on Friday in connection a €12mln loan scam at the Ayia Fyla Co-operative bank.

Fully cooperating with police, he told officers he was acting on behalf of one of the 16 suspects currently serving a remand order, approaching people with financial problems and convincing them to sign as guarantors for the loans of the first suspect, a businessman.

The 70-year-old, too, faces serious financial problems and is involved in four of the 11 loans investigated. He is a principal debtor in one of them.

He is the same person who is expected to testify for the prosecution in a prior case also involving dodgy loans at the same cooperative.

One more arrest warrant is pending from a total of 19 that were issued earlier this week.