Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-10-20

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Wednesday, October 20, 1999

'Foreigners bought citizenship for £ 50,000'

THE ONGOING investigation surrounding the Immigration Department as well as the latest mishap at the Cyprus Stock Exchange featured prominently on yesterday's front pages.

Phileleftheros

reported there would also be an investigation into allegations that foreigners had paid large amounts of money to secure Cypriot citizenship. According to the allegations, certain individuals were charging millionaire Russians and wealthy Arabs a sum of £50,000 for citizenship. There was a suspicion that these individuals were simply confidence tricksters.

Meanwhile, the most damning evidence against Immigration Department officials had been provided by impresarios (artistes' agents) who claimed that a few of their colleagues were treated preferentially. A handful of impresarios had their applications for visas processed in a very short time while the rest were given a very hard time, particularly if they reacted to long delays.

Haravghi

took a different line, claiming that investigations would drag on for some time as there was no evidence to justify bringing charges against anyone. All that investigators had found until now was that there had been some procedural irregularities -- passports of foreigners bore the official police stamp, but the visa had not been entered in police records. So far, no forged police stamps had been found.

Police do not seem to have any evidence or testimony against the Immigration Officer Christodoulos Nicolaides who was suspended from his post after allegations of bribery. It was strange how no-one had been arrested for paying the bribe, the paper added. The Attorney-general, who will decide whether there is a case against Nicolaides, said the police had began investigations without consulting him.

Politis

published the document which had sparked the police investigation. The document listed the numbers of cases in which the Immigration Department had granted visas without following the correct procedures and sometimes in contravention of the regulations. These work permits had been signed by Nicolaides and Immigration Officer Nicos Vakanas, who has also been suspended.

The paper also revealed that two artistes were allowed into Cyprus despite suffering from contagious diseases -- a Ukrainian woman had syphilis and a Romanian had hepatitis B. The Ukranian was deported, only to return 10 days later and take up a job in a cabaret; she had been taken off the stop list, allegedly after instructions from the Chief Immigration officer. The Romanian was deported and five days later returned to work as a waitress in a bar.

Alithia

reported that the Minister of Justice Nicos Koshis had told the paper that there was a need to set up a squad of "incorruptibles" to closely monitor the activities of the police force. This was an imperative in view of the many scandals involving policemen. He was also considering setting up a department to look into citizens' complaints against the police.

Simerini

reported that there was complete chaos at the stock exchange with regard to the issuing of share certificates. The CSE board, stockbrokers and public companies were blaming each other for the delays in the issuing of share certificates, while investors' funds were "trapped" as they had no certificates and could not sell their shares.

The problem arose after the re-opening of the exchange, when investors found they were unable to realise their profits as "they owned shares theoretically but all they had was hot air". Stockbrokers blames public companies and the CSE for holding back share certificates. Representatives of both claimed that they only held back 'problematic' transaction documents.

Machi

led with a report about the computer failure at the CSE on Monday, which stopped any transactions from taking place. It said the system had collapsed because it had been overloaded with orders during the pre-opening session. "Computers, being machines, were unmoved by the anxiety of the investors."

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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