FAMAGUSTA District Court yesterday remanded 13 municipal beach workers for eight days, after they were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of embezzling a reported €500,000 by pocketing the takings from sunbed rentals.
The most popular method used, the court heard, was by re-issuing receipts. Someone would pay for their sunbed and/or umbrella and the municipal worker would re-print the previous customer’s receipt on the ticket dispensing machines introduced by Paralimni municipality two years ago.
Between May 21 and August 14, police found there were over €220,000 worth of re-printed receipts. Other methods under investigation include handing out handwritten or blank receipts, leading the municipality to suspect that as much as €500,000 was embezzled this tourist period alone.
The court heard that nine of the suspects had confessed, while the other four deny any involvement.
After complaints from the public, combined with the suspicion that money was going astray, the municipality notified police in July. Their investigation led to the 13 suspects.
They are facing charges of deception, abuse of trust by a public official, illegal activities and conspiracy to commit a crime. The latter charge – whether the suspects were in cahoots and the crime was organised – is something the police are looking into, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said.
Paralimni mayor Theodoros Pyrillis yesterday said rumours of such wrongdoings had been circulating Paralimni for the past four to five years.
“We knew we had to either prove it wasn’t going on, or prove it was,” said Pyrillis. “With this in mind, when this year’s tourist period started, I gathered the beach workers… I told them that we had a duty to prove that what was being said about them were just rumours. We said we didn’t believe it was going on, but we had an obligation to prove it.”
But he added: “Unfortunately, it appears – though we need to wait for the relevant investigations to wrap – that something is going on”.
The suspects were caught out after the municipality decided to alter its checking system, making the workers report on a monthly instead of a daily basis, the court heard. This way, it apparently became harder for workers to keep check of what they were doing, as they started handing over different amounts to those registered on the machines’ software system.
Taking a closer look, the municipality found that between July 8 and July 27, the suspects had shortages of between €12.50 and €727.50 each.
Apart from re-issuing tickets, police – who also worked undercover and posed as beachgoers to investigate – told court the suspects had also issued blank or handwritten receipts. Often they didn’t even issue a receipt.
The town’s mayor has called on the public to be more vigilant.
“A vast amount of people don’t even ask for receipts,” he explained. “From what has emerged, it seems people were getting receipts but not checking them.”
Investigations spotted a €221,645.50 discrepancy. The suspects are believed to have pocketed amounts from €1,752.50 and going up to €32,377.50.
Upon their arrest, police found €25,926.18 in cash on them in total, with one suspect having around €10,000 in his pocket, said Angelides.
The Paralimni mayor said the exact amount that was embezzled could be way higher than the initially estimated €500,000, which he said appeared to have come from this tourist period alone.
At times when austerity-hit municipalities and local authorities have been crying for help – in mid August, the Union of Municipalities sent a plea to the government and parliament for financial assistance, saying they would soon be forced to suspend services or even shut down altogether – Pyrillis said this was too large an amount to be dismissed.
“During these difficult times, we have a duty to make ends meet. But if you had half a million, you would do a lot for your district. It is a lot of money,” he said.
Police have so far taken 20 statements and plan another 30, the court was told.
The suspects will also stand in a line-up so the members of public who filed complaints can identify them.
The judge yesterday accepted the force’s request for the suspects’ eight-day remand, to assist investigations.