Summary

English summary (Document itself in Greek)

On 19 June 2024 an arrest order against Shimon Mistriel Aykout was issued by the District Court of Nicosia and since then he remains in custody. He has been indicted for 124 charges. Alongside 53 charges for money laundering, these charges include, among others, unauthorized use of land, fraudulent transaction with regard to immovable property of other persons, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit felony and conspiracy to commit misdemeanor (sections 281, 303A, 302, 371 and 372 of the Penal Code of Cyprus respectively). In this order it is specified that the land in question, where the projects of Caesar Blue Resort, Caesar Beach, Caesar Bay and Caesar Cliff Resort take place, is held by the armed forces of Turkey.

At the first instance, the defendant alleged that he is not involved in the transactions in question and he also purported lack of proof of his personal involvement in the development and purchase of the land as well as the existence of trust with regard to him holding shares in favor of his son, who did not have the citizenship of Turkey and thus lacked the necessary legal conditions to hold these shares. The Court was not convinced by these allegations and rejected the plea of release.

On appeal, the defendant continued to purport that he is not an officer of the company, and thus cannot be held accountable, as well as that a trust has been created with regard to the shares, in view of the citizenship issue, already explained above. The Court rejected the first argument as it could not find any such restriction in the letter of the law. It further underscored its restricted authority to review the evaluation of facts that the first instance court has performed and refused to do so in the present case.

Further the defendant suggested on appeal alternative conditions for ensuring his presence at the hearing, those being bond of EUR 80,000, surrendering his Turkish, Israeli and Portuguese passports, him appearing twice weekly to the police, him being included in the stop list of the competent authorities of Cyprus as well as residing with the synagogue in Larnaca. The defendant also submitted a medical certificate by a medical center in North Cyprus certifying high blood pressure, diabetes, heart and respiratory failure that necessitate medical supervision and medication. Upon arrest, a doctor who examined him diagnosed dizziness and loss of balance due to vertigo and administered medication. These submissions failed to convince the Court. Rather, the Court underscored the defendant’s lack of bond with any person in Cyprus, including the lack of property, whereas he has access to further documentation, aside the passports, from Turkey due to this country being his country of birth as well as from the north territory of Cyprus, where he has been residing for long periods of time. It therefore rejected the appeal and confirmed him remaining in custody.