Cyprus’s Independent Authority Against Corruption is set to release an official statement on Monday regarding its investigation into the island’s high-profile wiretapping affair and the “black van” surveillance case, Transparency Commissioner Haris Poyiatzis told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Speaking before the House Institutions Committee, Poyiatzis disclosed that the anti-graft body will publicly clarify the status of the probe next week, though he declined to elaborate on the statement’s specific contents or findings.
The statement comes after months of strict confidentiality. In March, Poyiatzis informed the same committee that he was legally barred under Article 18 of the governing statute from discussing the active inquiry. His latest disclosure followed questioning from MP Irene Charalambidou, who pressed the watchdog on whether it had formally examined the “black van” file and requested the classified findings of independent criminal investigator Elias Stephanou.
The “black van” affair erupted in 2019 after former Israeli intelligence officer Tal Dilian showcased a custom GMC vehicle in a media demonstration in Larnaca, boasting that its €9 million surveillance system could hack smartphones and intercept communications within a one-kilometre radius. Police later seized the vehicle after discovering it had collected data from over one million device identifiers near Larnaca International Airport.
The watchdog’s current probe centers on the alleged involvement and potential conflicts of interest of public officials in the surveillance scandal—a primary axis of the inquiry.
Key elements under scrutiny include an email forwarded to the Ministry of Commerce via former DISY party leader Averof Neofytou on behalf of Dilian and his business partner Avraam Shahak Avni, requesting assistance for a software export to the Netherlands. Independent investigator Stephanou had previously taken witness statements from officials regarding the routing of that correspondence.
The inquiry also touches upon potential conflicts of interest involving Deputy Attorney-General Savvas Angelides. Previous reporting by Phileleftheros revealed that Avni had been a business partner of Angelides’s brother in a proposed commercial venture (with the placeholder name Spy Shop), while a separate complaint submitted to the Authority in May 2023 alleged that three surveillance firms were serviced by an administrative provider linked to Angelides’s former law firm.
Angelides has consistently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, stating he was unaware of his brother’s business ties and maintaining there was no incompatibility during his handling of the surveillance file.
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