In the coming days, the Anti-Corruption Authority will publish its findings on a complaint filed in September 2022 by AKEL MP Christos Christofides against DISY. Christofides asked the Authority to investigate donations to DISY from investors who obtained “golden” passports, citing suspicions of possible quid pro quo.
The complaint
Christofides questioned how nine foreign investors, either before or after securing a “golden” passport, made contributions to DISY’s party fund on Pindarou Street, ranging from €20,000 to €50,000 each. The total contested amount is €251,600. At the time the donations were made, Averof Neofytou was DISY president, while the passports concerned were approved by the Cabinet of Nicos Anastasiades.
DISY’s leadership rejected the allegation from the outset, insisting everything was legal and fully transparent, and pointing out that the donations are published on the party’s website.
To carry out this specific investigation, the Anti-Corruption Authority appointed three inspection officers: former judge Lemonia Kaountzani, lawyer with criminal-case experience Dimitris Tsolakidis, and economist Dimitris Georgiadis.
Audit Office findings
In a report published on 27 May 2025 on party compliance with the Political Parties Law for 2016-2021, the Audit Office revealed that all parliamentary parties except the Greens received donations from investors who obtained “golden” passports.
Notably, it found a case where a company donated €50,000 to DISY and 13 days later a person linked to that company received a “golden” passport. In a second case, a company donated €25,000 to DISY and 10 days later the Cabinet of Nicos Anastasiades granted a “golden” passport to a person also linked to that company.
The report indicates that parties beyond DISY also received sponsorships or donations from individuals and entities involved in the passports programme. However, only the two DISY-related cases featured donations paid so shortly before or after the issuance of passports. In total, the Audit Office identified €650,000 in donations to parliamentary parties linked to passport recipients, broken down as follows:
• DISY – €251,600
• AKEL – €118,660
• DIKO – €248,850
• DIPA – €23,000
• ELAM – €5,000
• EDEK – €3,000
Call to widen the probe
Access to power and decision-making centres is not limited to the governing party and its leadership; other party leaders also wield influence to varying degrees. It is therefore necessary, the piece argues, for the Anti-Corruption Authority to extend its investigation to the other five parliamentary parties that received donations from individuals connected to the “golden” passports, to determine whether they had any role in the passports’ issuance. It is recalled that former House President Demetris Syllouris and former AKEL MP Christakis Tziovanis are being criminally prosecuted on related matters.
AKEL and alleged Russian propaganda
A separate investigation by the Anti-Corruption Authority into AKEL is ongoing. On 21 March 2023, DISY MP Demetris Demetriou met Transparency Commissioner and Authority head Charis Poyatzis and submitted a letter-complaint, requesting further investigation of an OCCRP story alleging that a Russian lobbying effort financed parties in European countries, including AKEL, to promote parliamentary resolutions sympathetic to Russia’s position on Crimea. In essence, the report alleged AKEL was paid to push Russian propaganda.
Efforts are under way to contact the article’s authors for additional evidence to substantiate the claims. Following Dimitriou’s complaint, AKEL issued a statement categorically denying the report and saying it has no objection to a full investigation.
Coming soon: two more reports
Before the end of the year, the Anti-Corruption Authority is expected to announce two additional investigation findings:
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The “Land of Dreams” development in Trimiklini. Former ministers, two ministries, one deputy ministry and 16 services and departments came under scrutiny. According to an Audit Office report, the development has operated since 2012 without required permits. Findings include: illegal fish farming, illegal interventions on state land, unlawful intervention in the Kouris River and diversion of water to the fish farm’s illegal facilities, illegal operation of a restaurant and illegal operation of recreational and visitor accommodation areas. The Authority opened an ex officio probe after the Audit Office report was discussed in Parliament, seeking to determine whether long-standing illegalities or omissions raise suspicions of corruption by state officials and public servants. Former District Court President Nikos Yiapanas is conducting the investigation on the Authority’s behalf.
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Allegations of corruption and abuse of power at the Tax Department. This case concerns complaints submitted by a senior Tax Department officer that previously came to light. The complaints, which also brushed Parliament’s agenda, include mutual accusations among officials competing for a director’s post. They were investigated in the past without anything incriminating emerging.
Anastasiades report due in 2026
The Anti-Corruption Authority has granted a two-month extension to inspection officers Gabrielle McIntyre, Charilaos Chrysanthou, Orestis Nikitas and Andreas Efthymiou to complete and submit the last two chapters of their “Mafia State” report, which examines allegations of corruption and abuse of power involving former President Nicos Anastasiades. The extension was deemed necessary due to health issues affecting two inspectors. The two remaining chapters, with the first three already delivered, are expected in early February 2026, exactly two years after the investigation began on 20 February 2024.
Will Sizopoulos’s immunity be lifted?
According to information obtained by Politis, the Legal Service has completed its review of the Anti-Corruption Authority’s report against former EDEK leader and current MP Marinos Sizopoulos. The report is under assessment and, in the coming days, decisions are expected on whether to open a criminal investigation, as recommended by the Authority. If such a probe is approved, Attorney-General Giorgos Savvides will petition the Supreme Court to lift Sizopoulos’s parliamentary immunity to enable his questioning.
The Criminal Division of the Legal Service is studying the voluminous Anti-Corruption Authority report against former Nicosia Water Board director-general and current Nicosia Sewerage Board (EOA) director-general Konstantinos Parmaklis for abuse of power. Completion will take time, officials note, due to the report’s length and extensive evidentiary material.