The Independent Anti-Corruption Authority believes that the former president of EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, and at least three other individuals may have committed four criminal offences.
The offences in question are: (1) fraud, (2) forgery and the creation of a forged document, (3) circulating a forged document, and (4) conspiracy to defraud.
In its bombshell report, which “Phileleftheros” announced last Friday (5/9), the authority states that the offences are related to the sale of shares in the company Taxan Properties Developers Ltd, as part of a loan settlement for the shareholders with a bank.
The current MP and former president of EDEK was a shareholder in Taxan through his company, “IO Ktimatiki LTD”. The Independent Authority concluded that the Taxan shareholders sold the company’s shares to an Iraqi investor for €2,025,000 to settle a debt they owed the bank as shareholders of the corporate entity. However, based on the findings of the inspection officers who investigated the case, Sizopoulos and other shareholders declared that the sale price was €1,600,000.
Furthermore, according to the Authority’s announcement, the bank in question would not have settled the loan on the same terms if it had known the true sale price of Taxan. The Authority explicitly refers to the deception of the bank: “…the use of the contract dated 17/10/2017 was for the purpose of misleading a third party (i.e., the Bank) and gaining profit – financial benefit (a 37% discount on the loan amount and their removal as loan guarantors).”
The following excerpt from the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority’s report leaves no doubt about the scope of the case: “…the Inspection Officers concluded, based on the standard of proof applied by the Authority, that there is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the Respondent (Marinos Sizopoulos) and three other officials from companies that were Taxan shareholders signed and submitted a contract to a Bank for the sale of Taxan shares, dated 17/10/2017, with a false price (€1,600,000), concealing the actual price (€2,025,000) which had been recorded in an earlier contract dated 4/10/2017 (signed by one of the officials of a shareholder company on behalf of all Taxan shareholders).”
However, the findings do not end there. The Authority also concludes there was possible forgery against the Iraqi investor who bought the Taxan shares: “Based on testimony, the Inspection Officers found that there is sufficient evidence indicating that the signature of the foreign investor on the contract dated 17/10/2017 had been forged.”
Did Sizopoulos know?
The Authority presents a strong case against Sizopoulos, suggesting he knew everything. The report states: “The Inspection Officers, based on the testimony before them, concluded, based on the standard of proof applied by the Authority, that there is sufficient evidence indicating that the Respondent was aware of the true sale price of the Taxan shares and the existence of the contract dated 4/10/2017. Specifically, among other things, a document signed by the Respondent was presented to the Inspection Officers, which explicitly refers to the 4/10/2017 contract, which contained the true sale price of the Taxan shares (i.e., €2,025,000).”
A witness exposed them
An individual involved in the case reported Sizopoulos and other Taxan associates: “The official of the Taxan shareholder company, who was reported to the Police, admitted his involvement in the case to the police, naming the people who had reported him, including the Respondent (note: Marinos Sizopoulos), as also being involved in the case.”
Sizopoulos: “All the evidence”
“Phileleftheros” contacted MP and former EDEK president Marinos Sizopoulos immediately after the report was released. He told us he was about to issue a statement. He explained that he had a planned trip abroad for today and would hold a press conference after his return to Cyprus early in the week. “I will present all the evidence,” he said, stating that he would first study the report. We pressed him for questions, but he referred us to the statement he said would be issued.
However, in subsequent statements to various media outlets, he appeared to completely dispute the report and denied any involvement. He stated that he was the one who discovered the forged signature and filed a complaint with the Crime Investigation Department. When asked if the case would end up in court, Sizopoulos replied, “no problem,” stressing that he has all the evidence.
It should be noted that the Authority has forwarded the report to the Attorney General. The inspection officers, who were also responsible for investigating the complaint by former MP Giorgos Varnavas, were Soteris Ath. Liasides (former President of the Family Court) and Nikolas P. Konstantinou (lawyer), both from Nicosia. As clarified in the Authority’s announcement, a total of 31 sessions/hearings were held to take testimony or evidence, a total of 28 people were called to testify, and 262 pieces of evidence were submitted, corresponding to multi-page documents.
Sizopoulos’s power of attorney for €1,600,000, tax for €2,025,000
“Phileleftheros” reveals four documents related to the case. It should be noted that the undersigned had previously reported on the Taxan case on 2/2/2021, detailing the debt write-off.
We provide the documents:
A power of attorney signed by Sizopoulos on 23/9/2017 on behalf of his company, “IO Ktimatiki LTD,” for the Taxan shares to be sold for at least €1,600,000.
A tax assessment notice from the Tax Department to one of the Taxan shareholders. The tax corresponds to the amount the taxpayer received from the sale of the Taxan shares, which was €2,025,000. In its announcement, the Anti-Corruption Authority notes, among other things: “The Tax Department, when it found, based on a stamped sales document dated 4/10/2017, that the sale price of the Taxan shares was €2,025,000, demanded capital gains tax from three of the four companies that were Taxan shareholders. The shareholder company, IO Ktimatiki LTD, of which the Respondent was a director, as well as another shareholder company, filed an objection to the payment of the amount specified by the Tax Department, indicating that the sale price of the shares was €1,600,000.”
Another document is a confidentiality agreement between the bank and the Taxan shareholders dated 25/10/2017 for the settlement of a non-performing company loan, totalling €2,581,000. As is clear from the document we possess, the well-known politician played an active role in the negotiations between the two parties.
A key condition for the settlement of the €2,581,000 debt was the immediate payment of €1,625,000. This amount was ultimately secured by the Iraqi investor, who purchased Taxan’s share capital. The remaining €956,000, as we noted, were written off by the bank as part of the agreement.
A document that is a certificate of payment for the purchase price for the sale of shares. This concerns the stake held by “IO Ktimatiki,” Sizopoulos’s company, in Taxan, which was sold to the Iraqi investor. The certificate is signed by Sizopoulos.
