Greek Cypriot sentenced to two months in north for fake car insurance

One of the Greek Cypriots arrested in the north for attempting to cross to the north by car with counterfeit insurance documents was sentenced to two months in prison in the north on Monday.

He was convicted of putting fake official documents into circulation and attempting to commit a crime.

His sentence was handed down by judge Tutku Candas, who told the court the Greek Cypriot had attempted to cross to the north via the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint at around 4pm on August 30 with a counterfeit insurance document which he claimed had been issued by Capital Bank.

The document was recognised as a counterfeit by police on duty, who were somewhat baffled to discover that the serial number on the document corresponded to an authentic and valid insurance document taken out in the man’s name which was valid until September 9.

It was determined that he had used the serial number from the authentic document to produce a counterfeit document valid until June 6, 2024.

He reportedly said he wanted to “test” the officers on duty, to see if they would be able to detect a counterfeit document.

Candas said the man had committed a “serious crime” and that they require “long prison time”.

She concluded that given the fact that he had previously had a clean criminal record, and that he had already been held in custody since August 31, he should be sentenced to two months in prison.