Cyprus Mail www.cyprus-mail.com
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
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Shiarly: we have nothing to hide Cyprus is ready for any inspection on money laundering, said the minister By Elias Hazou CYPRUS is ready to agree to any probe regarding its compliance with anti-money-laundering regulations, finance minister Vassos Shiarly said yesterday. But to date authorities have received no official request for such an investigation, he added. “We have nothing to hide and we are very clear when it comes to money-laundering issues and to sharing information for tax purposes,” Shiarly said. He was responding to a Financial Times report claiming Cyprus and its EU bailout lenders were in talks to hire outside investigators to probe the island’s banking system for signs of money laundering. The paper cited officials involved in the discussions as saying that Shiarly has “in principle” accepted the idea to allay misgivings from lender states on how committed Cyprus is to fighting money laundering and why the island is a magnet for Russian money. The same officials said also the investigators are likely to come from a foreign consulting or auditing firm. The paper’s sources said the global accounting and advisory group PwC had been mentioned as a possible auditor. But Shiarly clarified yesterday that any inspection would be carried out by an appropriate international organisation, such as the International Monetary Fund or MONEY-
VAL. Should any of these organisations wish to send a mission here in order to compile an updated report on the island’s compliance, Cyprus would have no objection. “We are willing to welcome them anytime, even tomorrow if necessary,” he said. Shiarly revealed also that on Thursday he would be in the Netherlands to brief the parliament there on Cyprus’ request for a bailout but also “on other matters that might concern them, such as money laundering and the exchange of [tax] information.” He is going to the Hague at the invitation of the Dutch parliament. The Netherlands is among the group of EU nations – along with Germany, Austria and Finland – that are making noises about possible money laundering in Cyprus. The issue of money laundering in Cyprus, including the notion of a possible inspection, was raised at the meeting of euro-area finance ministers last Monday. Shiarly told his counterparts that the IMF looked at the issue during a September mission, found that the legal framework was in place, and made recommendations for improvements which were immediately adopted by the government. Shiarly has since stated that the final memorandum for assistance will include a section on money laundering setting out measures
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Investigators wear masks at the scene where the body was discovered yesterday morning inside the suitcase, which had lain in the boot of the victim’s car in old Nicosia since the early hours of Saturday (Christos Theodorides)
Stabbed man’s dismembered body found stuffed in suitcase POLICE have arrested two people in relation to a gruesome murder of a Bangladeshi man, 25, after his stabbed and dismembered body was found, yesterday morning, stuffed into a suitcase in the boot of a red Honda Civic. The car, belonging to the victim, was in a car park on Eschylou Street, near Plato’s bar, around 150 metres from the flat where he was living. It had been there since Saturday. The victim had bled to death after being stabbed in the neck, state
pathologist Sophoclis Sophocleous said. He reportedly had fingers cut off in one hand, presumably from defending himself, state broadcaster CyBC said. The victim’s flatmate and another person were arrested yesterday evening in relation to the death. Members of Nicosia CID arrived at the scene yesterday morning with two state pathologists, Sophocleous and Nicholas Charalambous, who carried out a post-mortem at the scene.
Police originally received a phone call from a member of public – a Cypriot - informing them of the incident. According to the informant, a Bangladeshi man had told him that in the early hours of Saturday he found his flatmate, dead in his bed. In his panic at finding the body, the flatmate decided to place the 25year-old’s dead body into a suitcase and put it in the boot of the car Some reports suggested neighbours had overheard a furious row in the flat late on Friday night.