Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister George Lillikas has announced that an auditing commission will be set up in the next two to three days to carry out an internal investigation within the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).
The investigations are connected to irregular dealings an investment company, Suphire, is said to have carried out while it managed the EAC pension fund, amounting to CYP 9.2 mln, which went missing.
Lillikas has ordered an investigation into the processes the Electricity Authority of Cyprus follows to establish any possible weaknesses, gaps or responsibilities.
The composition of the auditing commission will be announced in the next few days. The Auditor General has declined an invitation to participate in the commission.
The minister stressed that regaining the CYP 9.2 mln does not signify the end of police investigations into Suphire, whose operating licence at the Stock Exchange has been suspended for three months by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
He said the EAC will demand the last pound back to its pension fund and there will be no comprise on that.
Commenting on the same issue, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said that the case surrounding Suphire operations is in the hands of the judiciary now and police are investigating.
Suphire boss, 48-year-old stockbroker Yiannos Andronikou was remanded in custody Sunday for eight days by Nicosia District Court in connection with police inquires into the case of the missing EAC pension fund millions, which his company had been asked to invest.
Andronikou could face charges of conspiracy to commit felony, theft, false accounts with intent to commit fraud and offences relating to covering up of funds he had been entrusted with.
Replying to questions about a meeting between the SEC chairman with EAC and Suphire, Chrysostomides said the head of the SEC Marios Klerides is an independenct official and the government has no responsibility for his actions.
The spokesman pointed out that the existing legislation on the audit of investment companies is very strict and supervision rests with the SEC.
‘The law is strict enough. I do not know if, under the circumstances, it will need to be amended to become more strict,’ he added.
