House committee seeks legal opinion over former minister’s undeclared assets

Nicosia, Cyprus. The House special committee overseeing public officials’ wealth and income declarations has requested an opinion on whether a former minister in the Christodoulides government committed a criminal offence by failing to declare millions of euros in assets.

The case emerged during an audit conducted after the former minister left office, under legislation that took effect in January and assigned the tax department responsibility for reviewing “pothen esches” declarations.

Committee procedure

Under the current rules, the committee must inform Attorney General George Savvides so that the possibility of criminal prosecution can be examined.

The committee is chaired by House Speaker Annita Demetriou and includes Disy MP Demetris Demetriou, Akel MP Giorgos Loukaides, Elam MP Linos Papayiannis and Diko MP Panikos Leonidou.

Assets and tax examination

According to Politis, the assets were found to have been in the former minister’s possession before his appointment to the government.

The former minister is also being examined for possible tax evasion related to the undeclared amount, reported to range between €2 million and €4 million.

Updated declarations

Politis reported that the former minister voluntarily submitted an updated declaration for this year in April after the tax department informed him that bank accounts had not been included in his 2023 declaration.

An update was also made to the 2023 declaration. The parliamentary committee subsequently requested an opinion on whether the earlier omission of assets held in Cyprus and abroad constituted a criminal offence.