A 39-year-old electrician was sentenced to four years in prison after defrauding a businessman of more than €100,000 in an elaborate solar park scam that resulted in only a fence being built around the proposed site.
Larnaca Permanent Criminal Court convicted the licensed electrician on charges of money laundering from illegal activities, obtaining money through false representations and forgery.
The fraud began in 2021 when the defendant, who holds an electrician’s licence, met the businessman complainant through mutual acquaintances. The 39-year-old proposed creating two solar parks on land in Larnaca province owned by the complainant.
Forged documents
To convince the businessman he could construct solar parks on the specific plot, the defendant presented a forged licence from the Cyprus Electricity Authority on a separate occasion.
Following this development, the businessman was persuaded and began paying various amounts after the defendant claimed he needed to initiate required procedures for creating the two solar parks.
However, the only work the 39-year-old carried out was fencing the plot.
Growing suspicions
The businessman, who paid a total of €112,000 to the defendant, gradually became suspicious that something was wrong. When he shared his concerns with the 39-year-old, the latter provided various excuses for delays in starting construction of the solar parks.
The complainant eventually realised he had fallen victim to fraud and reported the case to police when he discovered that no licence for solar parks on his plot had ever been issued by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus.
The businessman served as the main prosecution witness in the 39-year-old’s trial and was deemed credible by the Permanent Criminal Court.
