Four people arrested late on Thursday in Paphos are expected to appear in court on Friday, with the chief executive of Aristo Developers and his wife facing charges of zoning violations, alleged property fraud and forgery in deals in the area of Skali.
The court will decide if a remand order will be issued for former Bank of Cyprus chairman Theodoro Aristodemou, his architect wife Sotiroulla and two senior officials from Paphos town hall – a retired municipal engineer and the supervisor of the municipal land surveys department.
The investigation has revealed extensive case of alleged land grab and changes in local surveys, such as appropriation of stretches designated for roads and green areas, for a total value approaching 5-6,000 sq.m.
In the meantime, Aristo issued a statement saying its founders were willing to cooperate with investigators and that this was all part of a fabrication and that the truth will prevail.
The Attorney General’s office has reportedly collected all Aristo property files involving stretches adjacent to Paphos municipal boundaries dating back to the year 2000. This includes the King’s Mall, the new Aristo development in Kato Paphos, where there are allegations that areas designated for green were changed to parking spaces.
Back in July, Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas had tabled Aristo Developer’s file before the municipal council, proposing the approval of zoning and building permits for a total of 177 plots for which the developer had secured a demarcation permit, the Cyprus Mail reported on Friday.
The case was first brought to the police’s attention by a Paphos municipality officer.
It subsequently emerged that the plans for which the demarcation permits were issued were switched with new plans, which seemed to cede approximately 4,000 sq.m. previously designated as green space, back to Aristo, the newspaper reported.
Aristodemou had denied any wrongdoing, arguing that municipality employees, unfamiliar with regulations, had got their calculations wrong.
According to Aristodemou, the real gap between the municipality’s and his company’s calculations does not exceed 900 sq.m., and his company could not benefit from it under any circumstances since the Land Registry routinely spots such mistakes and amends developments accordingly prior to issuing title deeds.
