Anti-Corruption Authority to probe Cyprus black van surveillance case

Local corruptionCrimeGreeceIndependent Authority against CorruptionsurveillanceTop News Anti-Corruption Authority to probe Cyprus black van surveillance case Anti Corruption Authority To Probe Cyprus Black Van Surveillance Case Relevant News Anti-Corruption Authority to probe Cyprus black van surveillance case 8 July 2026 Will AI make firms smaller? 8 July 2026 Holidaymakers beware: What the EU’s new biometric borders mean for Cyprus travelers 8 July 2026 Fanis Makrides 8 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber The Independent Authority against Corruption is to open an investigation into the case known as the “black van”, which involves the activities of Israeli businessmen Avraam Shahak Avni and Tal Dilian, according to journalistic information reported by the Cypriot website Reporter and picked up in Greece. According to Reporter, it is considered certain that all Phileleftheros publications documenting the paper’s investigation over six years, from 2016 to 2022, and forming the subject of a book by the author of this piece, published on June 24, will become part of the Anti-Corruption Authority’s investigation. The book, “Cyprus, the Hub of Surveillance”, covers not only Avni and Dilian’s activities on the island, presenting previously unknown aspects of the issue, but also the indirect relationships between surveillance companies and known politicians and officials. It reveals conversations these figures had when asked for their positions on Avni and Dilian’s role. The report noted that the journalist, referring to the book’s author, has based his investigation into surveillance in Cyprus on documents and evidence in his possession, and that it is considered certain he will be called before investigators to give testimony. The report was also carried on the website of the newspaper Documento (documentonews.gr), which described the case as reopening, with the dark affair of the notorious black van resurfacing. Next steps If the information is confirmed, the Anti-Corruption Authority, once it has ruled out any other parallel investigation into the surveillance issue, will appoint inspection officers, investigators with legal expertise, to act under their terms of reference. The legislation makes clear that the role of officials and political figures in the matter will be examined. The Anti-Corruption Authority has already been carrying out a preliminary investigation for months into complaints it received concerning the involvement of officials in the surveillance issue. This became known in March 2026, at a session of a committee of the outgoing parliament; May’s parliamentary elections have taken place since then. Had confirmed Transparency Commissioner Haris Poyiadjis was asked by MP Irene Charalambides, at a session of the parliamentary Institutions Committee on March 11, 2026, whether the complaints before the Anti-Corruption Authority would be investigated. She also sought details on the findings of independent criminal investigator Elias Stefanou, who was appointed following the black van scandal. Poyiadjis said Article 18 of the law requires all Authority proceedings to remain confidential, and that there had to be a reason to lift that confidentiality. At the time, he said he saw no reason to lift it, since the investigation was ongoing and the outcome would become known in due course, confirming that the matter was progressing. What the inquiry will cover Phileleftheros’s investigation into surveillance in Cyprus began in 2016, and from 2017 the paper’s reporting has traced, based on documents, the activities of corporate figures monitored by the Cypriot authorities themselves, who later emerged to be active in Greece. Through continuous reporting in 2022 and 2023, Phileleftheros linked the black van case to Predator and the scandal that broke in Greece after the mobile phones of journalist Thanasis Koukakis and PASOK-Movement for Change leader Nikos Androulakis were found to have been infected. At the time, the paper’s reporting identified how Dilian and Avni were connected to Predator, the software that shook Greek politics, and highlighted the role of their employees and links to a Cyprus party and the police. The investigation also identified the names of Dilian and Avni associates in companies that came under scrutiny from Greek justice and other competent authorities. Officials facing scrutiny: email to Neofytou’s office, Savvas and Michalis Angelides, and the Stefanou report The case and the criminal investigation carried out in Cyprus dealt with numerous matters concerning officials who fall under the Anti-Corruption Authority’s remit. Among the matters reported to be before the Authority is an email that reached the office of then-DISY leader Averof Neofytou, sent by an associate of Avni and Dilian, seeking assistance for a software export to the Netherlands. According to official statements given to Phileleftheros, the email and its route, which had been forwarded to the Ministry of Commerce, were examined by independent criminal investigator Elias Stefanou, who took testimony from officials. The Cypriot surveillance case also went before Larnaca Criminal Court in 2021, which imposed a fine on a company belonging to Dilian, amid political criticism over the role of Deputy Attorney General Savvas Angelides. Angelides, as Phileleftheros revealed on September 19, 2021, was called upon to examine Israeli businessman Avraam Shahak Avni, who had been a business partner of Michalis Angelides, the Deputy Attorney General’s brother, with whom he had planned to open a shop under the name Spy Shop. A complaint revealed by Phileleftheros in May 2023 was also brought before the Anti-Corruption Authority, presenting three companies active in the surveillance sector that received services from an administrative services office linked to a law firm associated with Angelides’s interests. Angelides responded to both matters when asked for a statement. On the first, he said he was unaware of his brother’s activities and ruled out any possibility that he had been influenced. On the relationship between the administrative services office and surveillance companies, he repeated that “there is no trace of incompatibility in the context of examining the black van case.” The book, published on June 24, sets out previously unknown aspects of the case and presents the full statements given by Angelides and Neofytou. It also discloses an indirect relationship between then Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis and the company L3Harris, which, according to a New York Times report, had reportedly sought to acquire NSO on behalf of a US intelligence agency. €7.6 million lawsuit with a strong Cypriot dimension Separately, lawsuits were filed yesterday on behalf of eight victims of the wiretapping, including journalist Thanasis Koukakis and other private individuals. They are seeking €7.6 million in damages from those implicated in the surveillance affair. The lawsuits target 14 legal and natural persons in total, including four individuals previously convicted and sentenced to a combined 126 years in prison. One of them is Tal Dilian, who has publicly threatened to make revelations ahead of his appeal, along with other executives of Intellexa, the company that marketed the Predator software, and other individuals named in the lawsuits. Whether the sentences are served will depend on the Court of Appeal, before which the case will be brought. The Cypriot element is strong, however. The lawsuit’s account of the case’s history records that Predator was acquired through a Cyprus-based company, while some of the 14 people being sued are based in Cyprus, among them Sara Aleksandra Hamou, Einat Semana Nissim and Dimitrios Xypteras. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Will AI make firms smaller? 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