As part of the criminal investigation currently under way into the so called videogate case, the former Minister of Energy, George Lakkotrypis, will be examined, among other issues, as to whether he breached the legislation governing the scrutiny of former officials when taking up employment in the private sector. This legislation aims to prevent the use of privileged information held by former officials for the benefit of their new private employers and to the detriment of the interests of the state.
Under the relevant provisions, Lakkotrypis was required, for a period of up to two years after leaving ministerial office, that is until 10 July 2022, to apply to the independent three member Oversight Committee in order to secure the necessary approval before taking up private sector employment, having first informed the Committee in writing of the identity of his prospective employers.
The independent criminal investigator appointed in the videogate case, and former Supreme Court judge, Andreas Paschalides, is tasked with examining whether, during the two year period provided for by law, Lakkotrypis applied to the Oversight Committee and obtained the required permits for the full range of his professional activities up to 10 July 2022. Furthermore, it will be examined whether, in cases where approvals were granted, the employment conditions imposed by the Committee were actually complied with.
Lakkotrypis’ companies
The report by Politis, which revealed the first private business activities of Giorgos Lakkotrypis, was published on 24 October 2020 and also referred to former Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades.
Georgiades had stepped down as Minister on 3 December 2019 and was therefore bound by the provisions of the relevant legislation to secure permission for private sector employment until 3 December 2021.
According to the Politis report, both former ministers of previous President Anastasiades' government received the green light from the Oversight Committee in September 2020 to work in the private sector.
Specifically, Giorgos Lakkotrypis submitted the following applications for approval:
• The first application concerned employment by LMA Advisory Limited. As Mr Lakkotrypis stated in his application, this company was to be established by himself in the Republic of Cyprus, in Nicosia, and would serve as his main corporate vehicle for providing consultancy services to third parties. The Oversight Committee granted approval on the condition that, in any case where the company intended to provide consultancy services related in any way to the responsibilities of the Ministry of Energy, its prior approval would have to be sought. This condition was never monitored by the competent Committee in order to establish whether it was complied with in practice, as the Committee has neither the necessary monitoring mechanisms nor sufficient staff, as was stated yesterday at the House of Representatives Committee on Institutions. In short, the existing legislative framework contains serious gaps as regards its implementation.
• The second application concerned Lakkotrypis’ participation as a non executive member of the board of directors of Ronin Europe Ltd. This is a company registered in Cyprus, based in Limassol, which provides investment services.
• The third application concerned the employment of the former minister by LIS Primus Audit and Tax Limited, a Limassol based company active in the provision of audit and accounting services.
With the approval of the permanent secretary
For all three applications submitted by Lakkotrypis, the Oversight Committee invited the then permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy, who had previously been his subordinate, to give his views on whether the former Minister of Energy’s intended professional engagement with the above companies conflicted with or was linked to his duties and responsibilities, including policy making during his ministerial term. In all three cases, the response was negative, with an explicit statement that no conflict of interest arose.
Requests for information
In light of the videogate case and Mr Lakkotrypis’ activities as revealed by recent developments, the House of Representatives Committee on Institutions yesterday placed under scrutiny the legislation governing the monitoring of the professional activities of former officials.
Inevitably, from the outset of the discussion, attention focused on the case of Lakkotrypis. The chair of the three member Oversight Committee for taking up private sector employment, state prosecutor Gianna Chatzichanna, informed MPs that she was unable to refer to the Lakkotrypis case for two reasons. First, the legislation itself binds her with a duty of confidentiality, the breach of which constitutes a criminal offence, and second, because a criminal investigation is currently under way.
She did, however, state that the Oversight Committee forwards all of its decisions, which are confidential and not made public, to the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the House and the Attorney General. She therefore advised MPs to seek the relevant information on Giorgos Lakkotrypis from the Speaker of the House.
Eight different applications
During yesterday’s session, MP Irene Charalambidou requested and received from the House presidency the relevant documents concerning the applications submitted by Giorgos Lakkotrypis to the Oversight Committee for taking up private sector employment. Copies of the documents were also forwarded to the other members of the Committee.
According to House records, Lakkotrypis applied to the Oversight Committee a total of eight times for various professional activities. What now needs to be established is whether, within the two year period during which the applicable legislation imposed restrictions on his professional activities, Lakkotrypis provided consultancy services or participated in the boards of companies active in the energy sector, in line with a related complaint.
Letters calling for investigations
Immediately after the conclusion of the Committee on Institutions meeting, MP Irene Charalambidou made public her intention to send letters to the Commissioner of Taxation, the Chief of Police and the independent criminal investigator appointed in the videogate case, asking them to investigate the professional activities of Giorgos Lakkotrypis. These activities arise from the applications he himself submitted to the Oversight Committee for taking up private sector employment, with the aim of establishing whether any criminal or tax offences may have been committed.
As Politis revealed in Wednesday's edition, Lakkotrypis is already under investigation by the Tax Department.