The Independent Authority Against Corruption in Cyprus has identified seven cases of suspected criminal offences connected to former President Nikos Anastasiades along with at least one other felony offense, and recommended that criminal cases be launched.
As a result of a two-year investigation based on the book ‘Kratos Mafia’ (Mafia State) by journalist Makarios Drousiotis, which alleges systemic corruption within the state, the offences attributed to Anastasiades include three counts of trading influence, three counts of abuse of power or an attempt to do so, and one felony count of abuse of power.
Some of the potential criminal offences identified for Anastasiades, his former law firm, the main partners in the firm, as well as the former head of anti-money laundering authority MOKAS are connected to findings from a 2019 investigation ‘Troika Laundromat’ by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
The Independent Authority found that Anastasiades, while serving as an MP and party leader of the DISY party, had leveraged his influence to bypass standard procedures, fast-tracking ‘golden passport’ citizenship naturalizations for Russian oligarchs Alexander Abramov and Leonid Lebedev.
The anti-corruption authority’s conclusions also implicate Anastasiades’ former law firm Nikos Chr. Anastasiades & Partners, and its two managing partners Stathis Lemis and Theophanis Phillipou. They stand accused of influence trading and money laundering. According to the report, Philippou also committed perjury by falsely testifying under oath that Lebedev had no assets in Cyprus, despite personally managing an EUR17 million trust for him.
Other figures linked to the alleged offences include Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, an intermediary for him, a former member of parliament, a senior police officer, a former judge, the former head of MOKAS, and former CEO of Laiki Bank. Former Assistant Attorney General Rikkos Erotokritou was named in two cases of abuse of power. Erotokritou was previously sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in 2017 on separate corruption charges, but was released a year later.
The felony case against Anastasiades involves the 2013 collapse of Laiki Bank, once Cyprus’ second-largest lender, and its ties to Focus Maritime Corp. Drousiotis claimed in his book that Focus Maritime operated as a slush fund, funneling approximately EUR2 million to bankroll the two main rival political parties – Anastasiades’ DISY and the left-wing AKEL party. The donations allegedly bought political immunity for Greek banker Andreas Vgenopoulos as he took control of Laiki Bank, driving it into insolvency through reckless lending and high-risk bond purchases, according to Drousiotis’ book.
An investigation into the book’s allegations had been announced by the Independent Authority Against Corruption in early 2023, but did not begin until the spring of 2024. The committee working on the probe had handed over to the Authority their final report, a dossier reported to be around 3,000 pages long at the end of April.
From advisor to ‘slanderer’
Kratos Mafia is part of a broader trilogy of books on corruption in Cyprus published by investigative journalist and former presidential aide to Anastasiades, Makarios Drousiotis between 2021 and 2022.
Drousiotis became actively involved in politics, initially as an advisor to Anastasiades’ presidential election campaign, and subsequently as a special advisor after he had been elected. He resigned from this position in October 2014 claiming pressure because of his criticism about the role of the Soviet Union in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The claims against Anastasiades made in the book came to the forefront during the 2023 presidential election campaign, when AKEL candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis formally requested that the anti-corruption authority investigate them.
Following the publicity on the matter, and the popularity of the trilogy in Cyprus, the anti-corruption authority launched an ex-officio investigation led by its chairman Harris Pogiatzis. To ensure the probe’s impartiality and credibility, the authority appointed international legal experts, and notably brought in the prominent Australian legal and anti-corruption expert Gabrielle McIntyre to lead the inquiry.
Anastasiades himself announced the creation of the independent anti-corruption authority following a damning 2020 Al Jazeera undercover investigation that exposed systemic corruption within Cyprus’ Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) known as the ‘golden passport’ scheme, and led to the program’s suspension.
Over the past two years, the investigators have held over 200 hearings, called 150 witnesses to testify, and examined hundreds of exhibits. The cost of the investigation by the Independent Authority is expected to have exceeded EUR1 million.
Throughout the process, Anastasiades has vehemently denied all allegations of corruption against him, and described the book’s claims as false, defamatory, and politically motivated. He filed defamation suits against Drousiotis in 2024 and later published his own book called ‘O Sykofantis’ (The Slanderer) seeking to rebut the claims made in Kratos Mafia.
Drousiotis also claimed that when he began his research for the book he was targeted with surveillance and advanced spyware by the Cypriot government. He also claimed to have experienced intimidation tactics such as the disconnection of his home security cameras and that a private security expert, who had secret ties to the government, installed software on his computer that enabled remote access to his files and exposed his anonymous sources.
The central question raised before the Independent Authority in relation to the “golden passports” cases was whether political intervention or influence played a role in decisions that should have been based strictly on legal and administrative criteria.
This issue gained particular significance following the findings of the Nicolatos Inquiry, which concluded that the CIP had been administered with serious deficiencies, inadequate due diligence, and repeated departures from its own criteria. While the inquiry identified systemic failures, governance shortcomings, and potential conflicts of interest, it did not conclude that Anastasiades or other key decision-makers had acted with criminal intent or were criminally liable.
While the Independent Authority Against Corruption can recommend charges, it currently lacks the power to launch criminal prosecutions. Its findings have been forwarded to the state Legal Service, where Attorney General George Savvides will decide whether to launch a criminal investigation or initiate proceedings.
Both Attorney General Savvides and Deputy AG Savvas Angelides were appointed by Anastasiades and previously also served as ministers in his administration. There is intense public debate over whether they should be involved in the handling of this case.
On behalf of journalist Drousiotis, his attorney, Lito Cariolou, told CIReN that they are demanding “the immediate resignation of both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General” because “they served as ministers in the Anastasiades government, and it is impossible to have the necessary public confidence that they can assess the next steps required by the findings of the anti-corruption authority with the necessary independence and objectivity.”
Anastasiades, in a statement he issued after the findings were announced, argued that “allegations of corruption made by Makarios Drousiotis had “collapsed as unfounded.” The former President categorically denied the alleged offenses and requested “an immediate investigation by the relevant authorities.” He claimed that “most of the accusations identified by the investigators had never been put to him during the inquiry, depriving him of the opportunity to provide documented responses.” Anastasiades also requested the exemption of the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General from the investigation “in order to remove any suspicion, whether benign or malicious,” “so that the groundlessness of the allegations against me may be demonstrated with documentation.”
Others named in this report did not reply to CIReN’s requests for comment in time for publication.