Developments are expected shortly regarding two significant investigations by the Independent Authority Against Corruption.
One is a surprise investigation in the sense that nothing related to it has leaked to the public until now. For this reason, disclosure of the subjects/objects under investigation is estimated to cause a sensation.
The inspection officers’ report has already been submitted and is being studied by relevant Authority officials, and an announcement on the findings will be issued shortly.
Christofides’ complaints investigation reaches final stages after year-long hearings
The other investigation has occupied the sphere of public discussion and was put forward for discussion in Parliament. It focuses on two of the three total complaints made by AKEL MP Christos Christofides.
The drafting of the report by the investigating officers, after a year of hearings, is in the final stage, and its delivery is expected within the next 24 hours.
“Perhaps by the end of the week it will be in the hands of Authority officials,” a reliable source told the newspaper.
The two complaints investigated as a “package” relate to naturalised citizens.
The first concerns foreign investors who obtained Cypriot passports and appear to have made donations to the Democratic Rally. The second relates to naturalised investors who were shareholders in Russian bank Promsvyazbank.
This banking organisation operated in Cyprus and was housed in an owned building in Limassol, constructed by a construction company established by Yiannis Misirlis, son-in-law of former President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades.
Imperio Properties responds to naturalisation allegations
Although the case with the aforementioned Christofides complaints has periodically returned to the forefront, it has not yet leaked whether its investigation led to findings. Indeed, the investigation passed through difficulties.
Initially, a procedure had been scheduled for summer 2023. However, complications subsequently arose. Two experts had been appointed as inspection officers and began their work collecting testimonies.
In the process, however, obstacles emerged. One of the two experts submitted his resignation, while later an issue arose with the course the investigation took.
The Independent Authority Against Corruption officials then appointed three new inspection officers: Lemonia Kaountzani (former Judge), Dimitris Georgiades (Economist, Chartered Accountant and former chairman of the Fiscal Council), and Dimitris Tsolakides (lawyer with experience in handling criminal cases).
The three aforementioned persons put under the microscope again what the MP denounced, the facts of the case, and from September 2024 began collecting testimonial material.
Christofides’ first complaint had been submitted in September 2022. In his written statement at that time, he noted that the specific investors who received Cypriot citizenship had deposited as a contribution to DISY “a total amount of 205,000 euros shortly before or shortly after their naturalisation”.
Mafia State book probe involves international legal assistance requests
The other complaint concerned four persons directly or indirectly related to Russian bank Promsvyazbank who received Cypriot passports from the Anastasiades government between 2017 and 2018.
Christofides, in his related letter, requested an investigation of whether acts of incompatibility are hidden behind the property transactions and naturalisations.
The newspaper had published the content of the complaint on 18/2/2023 and had contacted Misirlis to get his position. Two days later his company of interests, Imperio, issued an announcement speaking of unfounded claims.
In the announcement of this business entity, the position was advanced that it sold the building to Promsvyazbank in 2008, under the administration of Dimitris Christofias.
Additionally, it was noted that some of the naturalised persons had no relation to Promsvyazbank when the building sale occurred and therefore the subsequent naturalisations had no connection to the property transaction.
Developments within autumn are also expected for the major investigation concerning what is attributed to former President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades through the book “Mafia State“, written by Makarios Drousiotis.
The investigating team, within the framework of their terms of reference, utilised international conventions and, through the Ministry of Justice, are reported to have submitted requests for judicial assistance to foreign states, including Singapore and Monaco.
Author/researcher Makarios Drousiotis in his book includes many references to Russian oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev and what happened in Cyprus after his divorce.
He refers to the alleged role of a major law firm and its relationship with the then President of the Republic, curious parliamentary processes for legislative amendment, judicial decisions that benefited the oligarch so that Elena Rybolovleva would not become entitled to part of his property, and capital transfers.
Former President Nicos Anastasiades initially categorically rejected what is attributed to him through public written statements. Subsequently, with his book “The Slanderer” published in spring 2025, he made public documents attempting to refute what Drousiotis supports.
