The Nicosia District Court renewed the remand order for another eight days detention of the CEO of Suphire Group, Yiannos Andronikou to help in the investigations concerning the CYP 9.2 mln shortfall on the EAC Provident Fund money under Suphire management.
Police investigator Iaonnis Kelepeshis said the eight day detention order renewal was required because the police investigations had not been completed. The defence did not bring any objections to the detention order request.
Kelepeshis told the presiding judge Natali Talaridou-Kontopoulou that it appears that crucial information contained on a disk have been removed from Suphire computers. The Police also believe that sensitive information directly related to the case may have been deleted from the computer files. Until now, police have taken 63 statements and expect to take another 30 before completing their investigations.
Minister of Public Order meanwhile was not in a position to confirm reports that the funds shortfall on the Provident Fund of the Cyprus Airways Pilots Union, also under Suphire management had reached CYP 6.2 mln from the original CYP 700.000 claim.
The Provident Fund of the Cyprus Forest Industries has also claimed of a CYP 220.000 shortfall on its assets under Suphire management.
The EAC meanwhile confirmed that it has placed its internal auditor on an indefinite suspension after he revealed that he held a substantial investment account with Suphire.
EAC’s internal auditor Ioannis Koumeras, who was the first to brake the news regarding the shortfall in the provident fund money managed by Suphire told colleagues that he owed CYP 165.000 to Andronikou on an investor account.
He is reported to have told people at the EAC that originally he owed CYP 35.000 to Laiki Bank for investment dealings. This sum was then transferred to Suphire, but then inflated, according to Koumeras to CYP 165.000. Police have found that another two high ranking EAC officials also maintained investor accounts and had personal dealings with Suphire.
The EAC’s board meanwhile announced that it would not be launching an internal inquiry into the missing money while a criminal investigation by police was underway. The reasoning cited was that the ongoing police inquiry might be obstructed by a parallel inquiry involving the same people.
As the EAC’s internal auditor, Koumeras was the main link between the semi-government organisation and the brokerage; therefore he would still have come under the spotlight even if he did not have personal interests in Suphire.
EAC Chairman Georgos Georgiades was at pains to explain that the administrative inquiry into Koumeras was not the same as a fully-fledged internal investigation, which would start once the police were through with their own work.
