Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence

Local CrimeLarnacaTop Newstrial Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence Dikastirio Larnaka (1) Relevant News Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence 18 September 2026 Police stop car in Engomi, find hundreds of boxes of untaxed cigarettes, fine man €20,000 18 September 2026 As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN 18 September 2026 Natasa Christoforou 18 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Four defendants accused of defrauding a 77-year-old man out of tens of thousands of euros will now enter their pleas on October 5, after their lawyers asked for more detail on the evidence and each defendant’s alleged role. The four, a 44-year-old and a 42-year-old businessman, a 49-year-old already facing other charges, and a 45-year-old woman, appeared before Larnaca’s Permanent Criminal Court on Friday morning, where they had been due to enter pleas to the charges against them. Their lawyers instead asked for further evidence and more detail on the case against each defendant, prompting the court to set October 5 as the new date for pleas. Charges and custody status The four face charges including money laundering, participation in a criminal organisation and conspiracy to commit a felony. The 44-year-old Larnaca businessman and the 49-year-old are both in custody over the case. The 49-year-old also faces separate charges over the torture of members of the public at an illegal casino in Pyla, and over a shooting in Larnaca on January 17. The 44-year-old faces a separate charge of alleged witness intimidation linked to the same January 17 shooting incident in Larnaca’s town centre. The 42-year-old Nicosia businessman and the 45-year-old woman have been released on conditional bail. How the alleged fraud began The four were arrested after the 77-year-old pensioner reported that he had been defrauded of large sums of money between 2021 and 2024. According to his complaint, it began when he and his son-in-law sold two properties in Pyla worth €3 million to a company of which the 42-year-old Nicosia businessman is a director. The 44-year-old is alleged to have become involved in the case shortly afterwards. According to the pensioner, the 44-year-old and the 49-year-old persuaded him to become their partner in a betting shop and took a total of €49,000 from him. The 49-year-old is alleged to have separately worked with the 45-year-old to take more than €150,000 from him. The Nicosia businessman is alleged to have pressured the complainant, with the help of the other defendants, into changing the terms of the property sale. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Police stop car in Engomi, find hundreds of boxes of untaxed cigarettes, fine man €20,000 As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN On this day: Jimi Hendrix, U.S. rock singer and guitarist, died of a drug overdose in 1970 Events demand a “European Article 4” Air traffic controllers warn of near-miss with Turkish jet over Cyprus FIR MPs flag gap in scheme for patients needing further treatment abroad Christodoulides takes new proposals to New York to try to unblock Cyprus talks Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.