Cyprus FIU denies it refused to co-operate in monastery probe

CYPRUS’ Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) yesterday denied claims that it has refused to co-operate with its counterpart in Greece in investigating the Vatopedi scandal.

The 1,000-year-old Vatopedi monastery is accused of cheating the Greek government out of millions by underhandedly swapping cheap land for prime real estate.

At the centre of the corruption scandal is Father Ephraim, the abbot of the monastery and brother of Greek Cypriot politician Nicos Koutsou.

A parliamentary inquest is currently underway in Greece, where it has been revealed that the monastery has a substantial stake in two Cyprus-based companies.

It also emerged that the monastery owns a 51 per cent majority stake in a property company which bought many of the properties around Thessaloniki that Vatopedi was given as part of the land exchange with the state.

The scandal has hurt the ratings of the conservative New Democracy government and forced the resignation of three ministers. Meanwhile, opposition party PASOK has ratcheted up the heat with accusations that a cover-up is in progress. The socialists are airing suspicions that the Greek government is seeking to quash the case in its infancy, in order to avoid a full-blown judicial inquiry.

It was along those lines that earlier this week a PASOK deputy told the examining committee that Cyprus’ money-laundering unit had turned down a request for assistance from the corresponding agency in Greece.

MOKAS is the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Cyprus. It is the national centre for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating disclosures of suspicious transactions reports and other relevant information concerning suspected money laundering and terrorist financing.

But MOKAS head Eva Papakyriacou speculated yesterday that the Greek MP was most likely misinformed.

“It’s probably a misunderstanding. We never received a formal request for assistance from Greece,” she said.

Instead, Papakyriacou said, the request had been made verbally, on the phone.

“When criminal proceedings are underway in another country, the relevant evidence is obviously available in that country. So we cannot open an investigation here unless we receive the proper briefing and information.

“No such official briefing took place,” she added.

According to Papakyriacou, in mid-October MOKAS had contacted their Greek counterpart asking if there was any way they could assist with investigating the Cypriot angle.

Commenting on the same, Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides told reporters that the Greek agency’s request had been made on Wednesday, not in writing but over the phone.

He said then MOKAS explained that there was a certain procedure to be followed before such help could be given.

However, Chrysostomides did not seem to be crystal-clear on when Cypriot authorities had an obligation to work with foreign agencies.

“If a request is made in the proper way, then certainly MOKAS will respond. But if there is any doubt whatsoever, we will seek the legal opinion of the Attorney-general,” he said.

Source: Cyprus Mail