Cyprus’s Council of Ministers will decide on Tuesday whether to appoint criminal investigators in the Sandy affair, after the Police Chief briefs Justice Minister Costas Fytiris with a written progress report, likely today, on findings from the investigation into allegations of high-level corruption.
The Sandy affair centres on allegations brought forward by journalist Makarios Drousiotis of a network involving senior Cypriot judicial, political and financial figures. All those named have denied wrongdoing. The evidence has been sent to Europol’s cybercrime laboratories for forensic examination.
The report covers the results of investigators’ work so far on the messages and audio files made public, relating to allegations — described by Drousiotis as “an unprecedented corruption case” — of the involvement of a former judge and other individuals. Developments within Cyprus suggest some of the claims contained in the messages and audio files do not appear to hold up, according to philenews information.
The investigation is moving quickly. More than 30 statements have been taken, a large volume of evidence is being examined, and the investigation team was recently reinforced with two additional investigators on the Police Chief’s orders.
In the authorities’ hands are SMS messages, audio files, the mobile phones of former judge Michalis Christodoulou, two mobiles belonging to “Sandy” and the mobiles of lawyer Nicos Clerides.
The Council of Ministers has three options on Tuesday: appoint one or more independent criminal investigators; appoint a criminal investigator to oversee the police inquiry, as was done in the Habakkuk case; or allow the police team to continue its work pending the outcome of Europol’s forensic examination of the evidence.
Europol results have not yet been received. Independent observers believe Europol will not be able to give meaningful direction on the SMS messages, as they are screenshots, though other evidence may yet yield results. Cloned copies of the files were sent to Europol; examinations are also being carried out in police laboratories.
Christos Clerides, one of the lawyers in the case, wrote on Sunday that appointing criminal investigators was “the only way forward” and that no police investigation would convince anyone it was independent “for obvious reasons.”
Legal experts have similarly concluded that only the appointment of criminal investigators would persuade the public the outcome was credible.
Also on Sunday, former Attorney General Costas Clerides appeared before investigators. According to our information, he confirmed what his brother Nicos Clerides had previously stated — that he had sent an SMS to the former judge, essentially forwarding a message, with a simple prompt.
Police are also investigating whether Sandy travelled to Germany in March 2021 to a victim protection centre, as alleged by Drousiotis and journalist Stelios Orphanidis.
The police investigation has established that Sandy did not travel to Germany during that period. However, a close relative of Sandy appears to permanently reside in Heidelberg, the city cited by Orphanidis. Sandy herself stated in one of her depositions, according to our information, that she never went to Germany, let alone to a protection centre. Airport arrival and departure records are being examined for further evidence.
Finally, Nicos Clerides is expected to file an application at the Supreme Court today or by Tuesday challenging the search warrant executed at his premises on Holy Saturday, under which mobile phones, a USB drive and the contents of his email account were seized.
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