Anastasiades’s law firm: no chance to respond to money laundering, influence-trading findings

Local corruptionIndependent Authority against CorruptionlawNicos AnastasiadesTop News Anastasiades’s law firm: no chance to respond to money laundering, influence-trading findings Nikos Anastasiades 1 1536x1062 Relevant News Anastasiades’s law firm: no chance to respond to money laundering, influence-trading findings 18 September 2026 Lightning strike destroys Paphos café as storms batter the district 18 September 2026 Annita Demetriou calls crisis talks as DISY internal rifts spill into public view 18 September 2026 Michalis Hadjivasilis 18 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber The law firm Nicos Chr. Anastasiades & Partners LLC and two lawyers have filed an appeal at the Administrative Court arguing they were never given the chance to respond before the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority found potential criminal offences against them, specifically trading in influence and money laundering, in its investigation into the book “Mafia State,” according to the appeal. No right to respond, applicants say The applicants argue that the Authority made its findings on potential criminal offences against them public without first giving them a chance to respond to the Inspection Officers’ report. The appeal further argues that the Authority ignored or failed to properly investigate material confirming the applicants had not committed any act of corruption, and that it issued its decision wrongly and without proper authority. What the appeal seeks The appeal was filed on August 28 by the law firm Antis Triantafyllides & Sons LLC, acting for lawyers Stathis Lemis and Theofanis Filippou and for the firm Nicos Anastasiades & Partners LLC. It was served recently on members of the Anti-Corruption Authority and on Transparency Commissioner Harris Poyiatzis, and comes with a main submission plus two annexes: one setting out the Authority’s decision and part of its findings, the other containing the material sent to the London Stock Exchange. The three applicants want the court to declare void, illegal and without legal effect the Authority’s decision to adopt part of its Inspection Officers’ final report, along with the Transparency Commissioner’s decision to lift the ban on publishing that material and the Authority’s decision to issue its June 16, 2026 announcement on the results of the “Mafia State” investigation. The applicants first learned of the findings against them through that announcement, according to the appeal. “The decision is contrary to the presumption of innocence” The applicants argue the decision breaches the presumption of innocence under article 12(4) of the constitution, article 6(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights and article 48 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. They say the “findings” and “offences” the Authority recorded against them, and its references to their liability, conflict with the presumption of innocence and with the Criminal Procedure Law, citing articles 3A, 3B and 3C in particular. Other legal grounds cited The applicants also argue the Authority’s decision breaches the law, the constitution, the EU treaty, the European Convention on Human Rights and general principles of EU and administrative law, along with case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU, and that it breaches GDPR and Cyprus’s own data protection law. They further argue the Authority overstepped its powers under articles 6(2), 7, 9 and 14 of the law that established it. Rather than sticking to its administrative role of gathering and assessing information, or simply referring any suspected illegal conduct to the relevant authorities as article 14 allows, the Authority instead made its own findings of fact, assessing potential criminal liability using a lower evidentiary standard than the one criminal cases require, the appeal states. The appeal also argues that the decision was reached through a process that breached the principles of legality, natural justice and impartiality, saying the law’s definition of “acts of corruption” in article 2, combined with articles 6(2), 7, 9 and 14, undermines fair trial guarantees. Separately, it argues that lifting the publication ban breached: The law and Regulation 15 of KDP 483/2022 Articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 30 of the constitution and fair trial principles Articles 15 and 17 of the constitution Background to the June 16 announcement According to the appeal, the Authority ordered an investigation and appointed inspection officers to look into “Mafia State,” then issued an announcement on June 16, 2026, attributing potential criminal liability to the applicants. That announcement received wide publicity and remains a subject of discussion in the media and on social media, the appeal states. The applicants say they have since faced commentary and references that have damaged their professional standing and reputation, with knock-on effects on their work. The Authority’s decision has also been entered into LSEG World-Check One, a risk-screening database run by the London Stock Exchange Group and widely used by banks, financial institutions and other businesses, according to the appeal. The database now lists the decision, and the finding that the applicants may have been involved in criminal corruption offences, as part of their profile. 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