Cyprus corruption report implicates ex-president Anastasiades and senior officials

Cyprus’s anti-corruption watchdog turned a years-long political scandal into a prosecutorial test on June 16, saying former president Nicos Anastasiades and other senior figures may have been criminally liable. The key question now is whether the Independent Authority Against Corruption’s findings, built from 214 sessions and hearings, can move beyond allegations and into charges through the attorney-general and tax authorities.

The report stemmed from a roughly 3.5-year inquiry triggered by claims in Makarios Drousiotis’s book Mafia State. Investigators heard 150 witnesses, reviewed 793 exhibits from 41 legal entities and government departments, and compiled a final report and annexes totaling about 3,000 pages. Cyprus Mail reported that Anastasiades was linked to seven potential offenses, including three alleged cases of influence peddling and one alleged felony-level abuse of power, alongside three additional allegations involving abuse of power or attempted criminal conduct.

The authority’s findings reached far beyond the former president’s office. The report named or implicated lawyers, a former assistant attorney-general, a former district court president, a former bank chief executive, a former minister, a former lawmaker, an anti-money-laundering chief, a senior police officer and Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev. Politis said the inquiry touched the judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office, government ministries, the banking sector and the office of the former president, underscoring how deeply the matter cut across Cyprus’s institutions.

Anastasiades responded by categorically denying the allegations and saying the authority’s findings disproved the claims in Mafia State. He also asked for attorney-general George Savvides and deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides to recuse themselves, arguing both had been appointed by him. DISY, his party, called for a full investigation while stressing the presumption of innocence, while AKEL said the findings were extremely serious and demanded criminal prosecution. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the government’s tolerance toward corruption remained zero and that it would act within the constitution and the law.

The report arrived after months of anticipation. The authority had said earlier that publication was delayed because two of the four inspection officers had health problems, and it suspended work on all other cases until the Mafia State probe was completed. It also said the timing was not tied to the May 24 parliamentary elections. Even if the case never produces charges, the scale of the file has already made it a defining test of whether Cyprus can turn anti-corruption inquiries into consequences rather than records of impunity.