Investigators at police headquarters have a clear picture of their next steps following developments over the past few days in the probe into a video that promoted allegations of a corruption mechanism at the Presidential Palace.
Former minister George Lakkotrypis submitted documents and evidence during his second police testimony last Friday, according to sources.
The documents could potentially lead to clear indications regarding the investigation’s efforts to identify the creators of the video footage, sources said.
Lakkotrypis, the former Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, provided the name of a lawyer at a legal firm based in central Europe who mediated to bring him into contact with representatives of Stratix Wealth, sources told Phileleftheros.
The lawyer is Markus Baumgartner, sources said. He should not be confused with Russian businessman Vladislav Baumgertner, who lived in Limassol and whose whereabouts are unknown.
Baumgartner recommended Florin Georghiou to Lakkotrypis, according to the former minister’s police testimony. Georghiou appeared as a representative of Stratix Wealth, which purported to show interest in investing €150 million in Cyprus.
Three meetings
Investigators now have all the details about three meetings the former government official held in Amsterdam and London with a Stratix Wealth representative as part of their collaboration.
Lakkotrypis signed an agreement with Stratix Wealth last summer. According to what he told investigators, the agreement was for three months, and he received a total of €15,000, or €5,000 per month.
He was paid by bank transfer, meaning the financial transaction left traces in the banking system. As part of their collaboration, Lakkotrypis presented a study on Cyprus’s energy landscape to the purported interested investors.
He made two trips to Amsterdam and one to London. All his expenses were paid by the company, which has since proven to be non-existent.
Locations too
Lakkotrypis provided evidence for the tickets for the three flights as part of his collaboration, the hotels where he stayed, the restaurants where he dined with Stratix people, and the payments made to him through the banking system.
Whilst it remains doubtful whether the architects of the entrapment scheme through recorded conversations can be identified, there are nevertheless traces in the arrangements they made for the meetings.
It may be possible to determine through which bank accounts they moved money, what names they used and the methods they employed.
Sources said Lakkotrypis is also reported to have testified that one of the Stratix Wealth people appeared to personally know someone at a specific restaurant where they had dined.
Others testified
Charalambos Charalambous, who resigned yesterday from his position as Director of the President’s Office, gave testimony on Sunday to investigators at police headquarters.
Meanwhile, Cyfield chief executive George Chrysochos also testified to investigators yesterday.
Lobbying investigation and potential liabilities
Legal circles commented that the meetings with Stratix Wealth should have been declared.
The investigation’s scope extends beyond Lakkotrypis’s complaint against the staged hybrid operation by the video’s creators, who posed as interested investors.
As Phileleftheros revealed yesterday morning, the Independent Authority Against Corruption examined the controversial video under the legislation governing its operations.
It scrutinised what was mentioned by those involved and illegally recorded. It examined whether any issues arise that fall within its area of responsibility.
The authority’s remit, as is well known, concerns the actions of officials and lobbying (transparency in public decision-making processes).
The recording shows former presidential office director Charalambos Charalambous, former minister George Lakkotrypis and Cyfield chief executive George Chrysochos in discussion.
Charalambous appears in the controversial footage speaking with a person purporting to act on behalf of the now-proven non-existent corporate entity Stratix Wealth, which aimed to invest €150 million in the energy sector.
The Stratix representative was presented under the name Florin Georghiou and had an Eastern European accent. The conversation lasted 45 minutes, took place via video conference and was attended by former minister George Lakkotrypis.
Excerpts illegally recorded and shown in the footage present Charalambous saying, amongst other things: “If you proceed with the process with George (meaning Lakkotrypis), let’s say, and you start working on the applications and face an issue, give me a call and I’ll phone them to make it a priority.”
Under the law concerning lobbying, when a legal or natural person contacts an official to initiate a public decision-making process, obligations arise for the parties involved.
In such cases, meetings must be declared, with the Independent Authority Against Corruption being the competent body for recording and monitoring such procedures.
However, neither Stratix Wealth, nor Florin Georghiou, nor George Lakkotrypis are registered in the lobbying register published on the Independent Authority Against Corruption’s website. The register includes a total of 265 natural and legal persons.
Later yesterday afternoon, the authority confirmed the Phileleftheros report and clarified the following: the authority is not permitted to conduct any investigation once criminal investigation has already begun by the Law Office or police.
What the authority will do is remain in continuous communication with the Law Office regarding any developments.
Legal circles informed Phileleftheros that contacts with Stratix Wealth should not have been made under the radar, pointing to the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) and the Business Facilitation Unit (BFU) of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, and Industry. Additionally, it was mentioned that those appearing in the video might need to be examined for the offence of “trading in influence”.
Potential offences
Prominent lawyer Simos Angelides, speaking yesterday on CyBC’s “Apo Mera Se Mera” programme with journalist Tasos Christodoulou, said that from what Charalambos Charalambous is reported to say, reasonable suspicion arises for the following potential offences, which the competent state authorities should investigate:
Potential bribery of a public official; potential influencing of a competent authority; potential acceptance of bribes; potential abuse of power; potential money laundering from illegal activities; possible violation of the corruption prevention law; possible violation of electoral law; possible violation of the law on strategic developments, the business facilitation centre and control of foreign direct investment; and possible violation of the lobbying law.
Angelides stressed these potential offences arise only if the video was not edited or stitched together in a way that means what was seen and heard does not correspond to reality at all.
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