Man remanded for pocketing car sale money

The Paphos district court on Monday issued a four-day detention order against a 29-year-old Paphos resident to facilitate investigations into three cases involving theft and money laundering.

According to Paphos police spokesperson Michalis Nicolaou, authorities received three separate complaints against the individual, alleging that individuals had given money to the suspect for the purchase of a car.

However, the suspect failed to deliver the car. The official complaints were lodged with the police on October 28.

According to the case history, a 33-year-old resident of Paphos reported to the police that in May 2023, he contacted the 29-year-old, who owns a vehicle dealership, to act as an intermediary for the sale of his car.

In June 2023, the complainant sent an amount exceeding €13,000 to the suspect via a bank transfer for this purpose.

In July 2023, the suspect claimed to have sold the vehicle for €25,000 but never handed over the vehicle or returned the money to the complainant.

In another complaint, a 35-year-old resident of Paphos alleged that he reached an agreement with the 29-year-old to purchase a vehicle brought from abroad. In July of the same year, the complainant transferred a total of €17,000 to the suspect on two occasions as payment for the vehicle. However, the suspect did not deliver the vehicle or refund the money.

The third complaint came from a 61-year-old Paphos resident, who in July 2023 sent €23,000 via a bank transfer to the suspect for the purchase of a vehicle from abroad. However, the vehicle was never delivered, and the money was not returned.

An arrest warrant was issued against the 29-year-old, executed upon his return to Cyprus at Paphos airport.