Black Cube ‘stands firmly behind its evidence’ in Videogate case

Israeli private intelligence agency Black Cube on Tuesday said that it “stands firmly behind” the evidence it amassed before producing a video which alleged campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates, which was subsequently dismissed by the government’s investigator. “Corruption is a phenomenon that harms economies and impedes legitimate business activity. Black Cube stands firmly behind its evidence uncovering corruption carried out by Cyfield in Cyprus,” it told the Cyprus Mail. It added that the authenticity of the evidence published in the video “was verified by Cypriot authorities”, and that as such, it is now awaiting “the final assessment” from attorney-general George Savvides’ office. On this matter, it said that it is “confident” that Savvides’ office “will bring those responsible to justice and facilitate a cleaner business environment”, before stressing that it “obtains legal advice in every jurisdiction in which it operates to ensure the legality of its activities”. Additionally, it pushed back on allegations that it was operating on behalf of a foreign state, saying that it “provides bespoke services exclusively to clients engaged in business activities worldwide, supporting litigations, arbitrations, and white-collar crime cases”. “Black Cube will continue uncovering fraud, corruption, and asset dissipation in all its cases globally, as it has successfully done over the past 15 years. The comment comes a day after Andreas Paschalides, the man appointed by the government to investigate the matter, found that no criminal wrongdoing had been committed by any of the people who featured in the video. He said that the video is “not authentic” but instead “the product of editing”, and that “therefore, in addition to being a product of unconstitutional actions and therefore inadmissible testimony, it is of little, if any probative value”. As such, he added, “the goal of the production of the video appears to be to harm the Republic of Cyprus and not private interests” but stressed that “what emerged was that the Cypriot side, at all times in question, acted completely legally”. He went on to say that “responsibility for the production of the video lies with a private company, with non-Cypriot interests, registered abroad”, and that Black Cube had received “large sums of money”. “The company maintains and employs agents in a multitude of countries, and in this specific case, the company’s agents, not Cypriots, were recruited to produce the video, the evidence of which was secured by the investigators,” he said. Savvides later said that he had decided to extend Paschalides’ term in office as an investigator until the end of the year, so as to investigate the Black Cube’s potential motives and clients, in collaboration with the police. Attorney-general George Savvides said he had also decided to extend Paschalides’ term in office as an investigator until the end of the year, so as to investigate the Black Cube’s potential motives and clients, in collaboration with the police. It features Christodoulides’ now former chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous and former minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis appearing to explain how they used and intended to continue to use cash donations to circumvent election campaign finance laws. Both men also appeared to say that donations to Christodoulides by oligarchs under threat of appearing on international sanctions list would lead to him defending and assisting them to avoid sanctions from the European Union. Construction company Cyfield’s chief executive officer Giorgos Chrysochos, meanwhile, appeared to say that he pays €250,000 per year for his access to the government. Cyfield is a construction company with strong links to the governments of both Christodoulides and his predecessor Nicos Anastasiades. Additionally, it was alleged that the social support body, a fund managed by the first lady of the day which offers financial assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, was being used by donors to curry favours with Christodoulides. In light of the video’s publication, First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides resigned from her role as the social support body’s chairwoman and Charalambous resigned from his role as chief of staff. Black Cube, which was founded in 2010 by former Israeli intelligence officers Dan Zorella and Avi Yanus, had confirmed to the Cyprus Mail in April that it was behind the video. Zorella had previously been an agent of Aman, the Israel Defence Forces’ military intelligence directorate, before joining forces with Yanus to create Black Cube. Those incidences include allegations of widespread corruption in Panama’s judiciary and in Mexico’s state-owned petroleum corporation Pemex, though the agency’s actions have generated controversy in the past. Two of its agents were arrested in Romania and convicted of criminal charges, including harassment and hacking, while it also drew controversy for assisting efforts to discredit women who had accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse. In 2018, magazine Forbes Israel described Black Cube as “the Mossad of the business world”.