CYPRUS: Paphos ex-mayor, sewerage boss get 6 year jail terms

Former Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas and the Director of the Paphos Sewerage Board, Eftychios Malekkides, were handed down prison sentences of six years each on Wednesday on conspiracy charges and bribery related to the town’s much-delayed sewerage network.

Both were found guilty on conspiracy to commit a crime and accepting bribes from private contractors, as the whole project has been delayed and is beyond budget.
All the charges relate to actions from 2007 to 2014 and their sentences run concurrently from their day of arrest in late 2014.
The hearings for former municipal councilors Yiorgos Michaelides, Efstathios Efstathiou and Vasos Vasileiou will take place on April 20, and for municipal council Yiorgos Shiailis on March 3.
Vergas also faces separate charges related to threatening text messages related to a property permit adjustment involving a development by Aristo Developers and Paphos municipal employees.