The attorney general’s office is expected to decide by the end of November whether to prosecute three high-profile cases that have gripped public attention, involving well-known figures, including former EDEK leader Marinos Sizopoulos.
Attorney General Giorgos Savvides called officials handling the cases earlier this week and asked them to complete their review immediately so meetings can be held this month on each case and final decisions taken, according to sources.
The cases have been at the law office for some time, with case files and evidence already studied. Officials now need to make their recommendations so final handling instructions can be given.
The Sizopoulos case
The first involves former EDEK leader and MP Marinos Sizopoulos, who is being investigated for serious criminal offences along with others in connection with a property sale linked to the now-defunct golden passport scheme.
An inquiry by inspectors appointed by the Independent Authority Against Corruption found evidence of potential crimes including alleged fraud, forgery, circulation of forged documents and conspiracy to defraud.
The inquiry found sufficient evidence suggesting Sizopoulos and three other company officials who were TAXAN shareholders signed and submitted to Bank of Cyprus a share sale contract dated 17 October 2017 with a false price of €1.6 million, concealing the real price of €2.025 million recorded in an earlier contract dated 4 October 2017.
The higher price was submitted to the interior ministry to help an Iraqi investor qualify for Cypriot citizenship under the investment programme. The lower price was given to the bank to reduce TAXAN’s debts. The bank later filed a complaint saying it would not have written off €956,900 from the loan had it known the true sale price.
If the attorney general decides to press charges, procedures must begin to lift Sizopoulos’s parliamentary immunity so police can question him. The process will go through the Supreme Court, where evidence will be submitted and the affected party given the right to object. This is necessary because testimony given to anti-corruption inspectors cannot be used as evidence in potential court proceedings.
The case has faced scrutiny because Savvides in 2020, shortly after his appointment, rejected a police request to lift Sizopoulos’s immunity and shelved the case. The anti-corruption authority’s September 2025 report prompted renewed pressure for action. Sizopoulos resigned as EDEK leader in 2025 and denies any wrongdoing.
The Koumas case
The second case involves former Cyprus Football Association president Giorgos Koumas, who is being investigated for conflict of interest along with other individuals.
A completed file has been with the law office since September. It followed a report by officials appointed by the Ethics and Sport Protection Commission implicating Koumas and Cyprus Sports Organisation officials.
The sports ethics committee in September 2023 found Koumas had a conflict of interest as he owns several companies trading football broadcasting rights. Under Cypriot law, officials cannot hold business interests in sports disciplines they oversee.
Koumas faced accusations of creating an “unfair advantage” for some clubs by manipulating money paid to them from television rights deals. The committee found CytaVision money for domestic football rights “was distributed by the CFA, in time and quantity, according to the will of Giorgos Koumas.”
Police launched a criminal investigation with assistance from former judge Alexandra Lykourgou as criminal investigator. On 3 June 2025, during the investigation, Koumas resigned from the football association presidency, saying he wanted to “protect the sport” from attacks aimed at him. He retained his positions in FIFA and UEFA.
The prisons documents case
The third involves thousands of Central Prisons documents, including confidential and classified materials, that were found at a chief prison guard’s home instead of in departmental or directorate archives.
Police discovered 48,430 documents comprising 250,464 pages on 10 April 2025 whilst investigating a separate case involving an alleged illegal canteen inside the prison. The material was stored in two locked rooms at the warden’s residence.
The documents dated from 2018-2022 and included architectural schematics of Central Prisons, original files, copies with authentic signatures, inmate dossiers, and official correspondence marked ‘confidential’ or ‘secret’. Police also found CDs with video footage from prison cameras.
Investigations were completed last month. Former prisons director Anna Aristotelous and several prison guards have been placed on compulsory leave pending a decision.
Five people—four prison wardens and a female police cadet—were arrested and held for questioning. Police believe the bulk of documents were removed between November and December 2022 via a staircase next to administrative offices, hidden in cloth bags and sometimes transported using prison department vehicles.
Aristotelous, who left her prison post in January 2023 amid separate controversies and was later appointed to the defence ministry, was suspended by cabinet in June 2025 over the scandal. Her lawyer called her a “scapegoat” and said she would appeal.
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