The Cyprus state scholarships foundation (Ikyk) has reportedly spent the last 15 years renting out a building valued at €615,000 for as little as €500 per month to the law firm which used to represent it it, according to reports which surfaced on Friday.

The building, which is located in the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia, was donated to Ikyk in 2000, with Ikyk initially having planned to move its headquarters to it.

However, after this planned move was blocked in 2009, Ikyk’s board of directors authorised law firm Artemiou, Pieri & Associates to “take the necessary steps” to find a tenant.

The law firm then spent three years attempting to do so, and according to newspaper Phileleftheros received offers which “were not advantageous”, before submitting an offer of its own to lease the building.

That offer was accepted by Ikyk’s board of directors in January 2013, with Ikyk employing lawyer Klearchos Christofi to advise it on the offer. Christofi reportedly found that there was “no obstacle” to the creation of such an agreement and as such, Artemiou, Pieri & Associates became the building’s tenant.

Four years later, law firm Christos Patsalides LLC informed Ikyk that Artemiou, Pieri & Associates had the right to sublet the building and that Ikyk had no right to unilaterally increase the amount payable as rent.

Ikyk then reportedly met Artemiou, Pieri & Associates to discuss the possibility of raising the rent, but Phileleftheros reported that this meeting ended “without result”.

The newspaper also wrote that Artemiou, Pieri & Associates sublet the building to one of its shareholders, who lives there with his family.

However, efforts are now being made to bring the property back into Ikyk’s hands, with a meeting scheduled with the finance ministry’s undersecretary Andreas Zachariades on Tuesday to receive instructions on how to handle the issue.

Ikyk’s board of directors’ chairman Giorgos Skalias told Phileleftheros an effort is being made to “find a mutually acceptable solution … based on the contract drawn up in 2013”.

He added that he hopes a solution to the matter will be found out of court and that Ikyk will be able to “get the property back at a time to be determined”.

Otherwise, he said, “the courts will have a say, and in such a case, the police may be involved”.

The legal service has previously described the contract as “one-sided in favour of the tenant” and also found that it “does not contain any express term which would allow Ikyk to terminate the lease”.

Meanwhile, audit office spokesman Nikos Stylianou told the newspaper that the case “should be reported to the police” and that he believes that criminal offences “may come to light”.

The audit service also found that the property’s market value is €615,000, and that at the market rate, monthly rent for the building would amount to €2,150.