Man arrested in stolen cheques case

A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of using stolen cheques to purchase €5,500 worth of items, including electronics, police said on Friday morning.

The case emerged after a 27-year-old electronics store manager in Paphos reported to the police in August that an unknown man had called her the previous month regarding the purchase of two televisions worth €720.

The man, who had given her a fake name, had told her that another person would come to pick them up, the woman told the police. She said a man appeared at the store later in the day and picked up the products giving her a cheque which she could not cash.

Police examinations led to the arrest of the suspect in relation to a case of obtaining goods under false pretences, forgery and circulation of a forged document.

Further examinations revealed the man might be connected with a second cheque fraud case.

This concerned the complaint of a 51-year-old woman who in September had reported unusual activity in her joint bank account with her husband.

According to her statement, cheques totalling €5,500 had been cashed between the end of August and mid-September, which had not been used by her nor her husband.

The above charges were added to the previous offences investigated against the 41-year-old, police said.