Suspended mayor Phedon Phedonos admitted to “F” yesterday that he broke the law by using his official vehicle.
He told us he did not comply with the legal requirements because people in the Town Hall were hostile towards him and wanted to monitor his movements.
Our newspaper contacted Mr. Faidonos yesterday morning and asked for his position on our report about a complaint filed against him and the municipal secretary. The complaint alleged unlawful acts and the misuse of public funds. It contained four strands and was investigated by the Paphos CID, the Audit Office and the Police Headquarters’ Crime Combating Department. The investigation produced findings. The case file now lies with the Attorney General, who will decide whether to bring criminal charges.
One strand concerns the mayor’s alleged arbitrary use of the official vehicle. We put to Mr. Faidonos that, under the law on the provision of certain benefits to designated beneficiaries in the state and wider public sector and the relevant regulations, he should have kept a vehicle journey logbook and a monthly cost sheet.
We pointed out that, according to the police investigation and evidence from cooperating state services, he kept neither.
He replied: “Absolutely correct. We did not keep it so they could not monitor the mayor, because various people were hostile towards him inside the Town Hall and wanted to know at any given moment where the mayor was going and whether he was seeing Minister ‘A’ or ‘B’.”
Mr. Faidonos also said his two predecessors each drove 240,000 kilometres in 10 years in the official vehicle, while he has driven 160,000 kilometres in eight years.
He added that over the past 11 years, he took part in around 50 missions abroad and was entitled to a foreign maintenance allowance of about €20,000 to €25,000, but never claimed it. “Since 12/1/201,5 I have not taken a single cent,” he said.
We noted that an Audit Office finding shows that two bailiffs who acted as drivers were paid improperly with public money for overtime use of the vehicle. Mr. Faidonos said he never used the official vehicle for personal afternoon engagements. He said that if he travelled to Nicosia for official reasons and the bailiff-driver worked longer hours, he would receive the corresponding time off in lieu.
“Overtime compensation is also considered a day off,” the suspended mayor told us. Elsewhere, he said: “My driver had the right to receive money.” He explained that he needed transport to Nicosia for official business.
He also said that when official guests of the municipality arrived in Cyprus, he sent the official vehicle to collect the foreign official from Larnaca airport.
“We saved €150 that we would have paid for a taxi, while the employee acting as driver for six hours of overtime was entitled to be paid,” he said. He referred to a specific complaint made against him and said that in that case, he had a meeting with a minister in Nicosia.
Turning to the other strands of the complaint we revealed yesterday, we recall that the complaint filed withthe police in April 2022 and investigated until the end of 2025 attributes the following to him:
It alleges illegality over Turkish Cypriot property that was sublet to a private individual to operate a café, contrary to a Legal Service opinion.
It alleges five appointments in Paphos Municipality to posts up to scale A13 that were not made through transparent procedures, as recruitment began before approval was granted by the Ministries of Finance and Interior.
It alleges unlawful use of the official vehicle by the mayor with two municipal employees, who were paid overtime with public money without the required procedures.
It alleges the misappropriation of €1.5 million from the municipal employees’ pension fund by Paphos Municipality to purchase a plot of land that was unlawfully transferred to the municipality for the construction of student halls.
On the Turkish Cypriot property sublet for a café in Mouttallos and the extension permit granted to the contractor, Mr. Faidonos said everything was done lawfully in consultation with the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties. We put to him that, according to the investigation, the Guardian acted unlawfully and that in the lease contract with the municipality, the clause prohibiting subletting was improperly removed. He said: “We received both permits from the Guardian. The private individual covered the cost of the café extension. The plans for the extension, to secure planning permission, were signed by the Guardian.”
On the appointments, although we referred him to findings from the investigation carried out between 2022 and 2025 that senior posts at scale A13 were filled, he insisted everything was lawful and based on approval from the competent ministries.
Finally, he addressed the €1.5 million, which, according to the complaint, was unlawfully taken from the municipal employees’ pension fund to buy land for student halls. He said the money was taken lawfully following legal advice and a decision of the municipal council.
He added that no application had even been submitted to the Registrar of Occupational Retirement Benefit Funds to establish the fund. He said the municipal employees’ money was held in a municipal account and that the employees benefited from the arrangement. He explained that the funds had been in an account with a negative interest rate, but after the municipal council’s decision, they are now deposited in an account with a positive 3% interest rate. He added that it is planned for the final instalment of €360,000 to be returned to the municipal employees by December 2026. He concluded by saying that the Registrar of Occupational Retirement Benefit Funds, Nikos Koulapis, congratulated him on his handling of the matter because the arrangement was in the employees’ favour.
The complaint with the four strands was filed by a senior municipal officer. Mr. Faidonos attributed retaliatory motives to that individual. He claimed the officer was hired at scale A13 to a key post and served a two-year probation. He added that the municipal secretary recommended against confirming him in post. He said that during the first dismissal procedure, the minutes were taken by the municipality’s legal adviser rather than a municipal officer. According to Mr. Faidonos, the Administrative Court upheld the dismissed person’s case on that detail and he returned to work at the municipality. The suspended mayor said the complaint against him was driven by revenge. He told us that before the second dismissal, the individual filed a complaint against him with the Independent Authority Against Corruption. At that point, “F” interrupted Mr. Faidonos and pointed out that the complaint could not have been filed with the Authority on 17/5/2022, when, according to our information, the dismissal letter was issued, because the Authority had not yet been established. It was established on 8/7/2022. We also pointed out that the individual filed a complaint with the police about Paphos Municipality matters in April 2022 and was dismissed in May of the same year, one month later. He said he would review the issue and revert.
Yesterday’s revelations by “F” were followed by developments. We are officially informed that “all contracts with Paphos Municipality are being checked by a team from the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service, which is in Paphos for an on-site inspection”.
In addition, our information states that yesterday morning, following the report by “F”, the Attorney General requested the investigation file. The case has been assigned to a competent officer of the Legal Service for evaluation.
Journalist Stella Savva, on the programme “Enimerosi Tora” which she presents on OMEGA, made public the Attorney General’s official position, which she secured yesterday morning. The written statement notes, among other things: “We confirm that on 13/1/2026, for the fourth time, a police file containing investigative material concerning complaints by a private individual against officials of Paphos Municipality, submitted in April 2022, was forwarded to the Legal Service (…) Since 13 January 2026, the police file has been under study by officers of the Legal Service.”
