Ongoing investigations into the suspected import of damaged luxury cars to Cyprus have revealed there might have been more than 10 cars sold without the sellers declaring they had been damaged in crashes or floods.

So far, authorities have identified three damaged imported cars, raising questions whether an employee of the Road Transport Department was involved in registering them. Since May 2020, importers of used cars are legally obliged to declare if a car had been damaged in any way, when registering them at the department.

The scam was confirmed on state radio by transport minister Yiannis Karousos and more arrests linked to the car importing ring are expected in the coming days.

The case had been reported to the police five months ago, but investigations had been moving at a very slow pace. Some of the luxury cars imported, were, reportedly, purchased at very low prices because they had been badly damaged in crashes or floods or hade been disassembled. Selling them, without reference to the damage was a violation of the rules

So far, the only arrest made concerns a 49-year-old woman, who was an agent. She was remanded on February 9 for three days and was released without being charged.

Lat week, police spokesman Christos said that authorities were also investigating whether used car dealers were also involved in the scam, adding that police were investigating every possibility, including the involvement of employees of the Road Transport Department.

Meanwhile, the senior Road Transport Department official who tipped off police about the scam was targeted by arsonists who set fire to two cars, belonging to his family that were parked outside his house.

Karousos said the state will pay for the damage caused by arsonists, adding that the attack was also against the ministry, the government and law. However, there were concerns over who had revealed the identity of the official to the arsonists.