Golden passport trial delayed after prosecutors add 25 charges

Nicosia, Cyprus. The trial of former transport minister Marios Demetriades and nine other defendants in the golden passport case was postponed after prosecutors added 25 new charges to the indictment.

The Nicosia permanent criminal court set September 23 for a defence response to the new charges and rescheduled the trial for October 19.

New charges

The 25 new charges apply to five of the 10 defendants. Senior counsel Haris Karaolidou told the court that the charges were sent to defence lawyers the previous day and formally filed on Monday.

She said the charges concerned the same events covered by the existing indictment and were based on evidence already gathered by prosecutors. Karaolidou argued that, as the case remained at an early stage, the additions would not unfairly disadvantage the defendants.

Defence response

Demetriades’ lawyer, Petros Stavrou, did not object to the additional charges, as none applied to his client.

Defence lawyer Elias Stefanou questioned why prosecutors were adding the charges after an investigation that began in 2021 and an original indictment filed in September 2024.

He said most of the new charges were based on existing allegations that his clients obtained citizenship registrations through false representation. However, he argued that the additions changed the overall nature of the case.

Three of the new charges concern separate allegations of money laundering linked to transactions involving three investors, which Stefanou said were of a different nature from the remaining allegations.

Additional witnesses

The court also approved a prosecution request to call three additional witnesses.

The case involves 10 defendants: eight individuals and two companies.