Cyprus’ anti-corruption authority has found “potential acts of corruption” and “abuse of power” by former President Nicos Anastasiades during his 10 years in office, referring possible criminal charges to prosecutors for further scrutiny.
The country’s Independent Anti-Corruption Authority alleges Anastasiades may have improperly tried to influence investigations into suspected payments to political parties and politicians, intervened in a Russian oligarch’s citizenship application, and may have used his office to stymie an anti-money laundering probe involving his former law firm.
Last week, the authority announced the criminal referrals to the attorney general in a sprawling 16,000-word statement summarizing its investigation into allegations made in “Kratos Mafia,” or “Mafia State,” a 2022 book by Makarios Drousiotis, a former Anastasiades aide turned investigative journalist.
The announcement includes a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Drousiotis’ book, following the watchdog’s two-year investigation into those allegations that fell under its purview. The authority said it issued summons and interviewed key witnesses, including Drousiotis and Anastasiades himself, who “testified for many hours, spanning more than one day.”
The referrals to the attorney general were made as part of a confidential “final report” comprising more than 3,000 pages, along with other supporting documents. The authority cautioned that every person mentioned in the report carried a presumption of innocence and that “only a court of law is competent to determine a person’s guilt.” Anastasiades has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
The Independent Anti-Corruption Authority was created in 2022 under pressure from the European Union and the U.S. to address longstanding concerns about public corruption in Cyprus and its rise to become a crucial financial hub for Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia.
The authority’s statement also explored journalistic investigations, cited in Drousiotis’ book, into Anastasiades’ former law firm. These include the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s 2019 “Troika Laundromat” exposé that alleged the firm helped execute complex deals that moved Russian money to and from shell companies; and the “Pandora Papers,” a 2021 cross-border investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, that, among other things, identified Anastasiades’ former firm as a key offshore go-between for wealthy Russians.
In a written statement issued after reviewing the Anti-Corruption Authority’s findings and reported by OCCRP, Anasatsiades said that “most of the accusations identified by the investigators had never been put to him during the inquiry, depriving him of the opportunity to provide documented responses.” He also argued that allegations of corruption made by Makarios Drousiotis had “collapsed as unfounded.”
