Antonis Antoniou, who worked as an Operations Manager for the Giovani Group and was as such indicted for his role in the alleged illegal naturalisations brought to light by news company Al Jazeera, was on Tuesday acquitted of both the charges of which he stood accused.

His acquittal came after the legal service decided to suspend the charges after a prosecution witness named Anthony Kay, who was expected to testify in the case, refused.

Prosecution lawyer Charis Karaolidou said in court that Kay had put in writing that he “did not see and was not aware of any offence related to the defendants”, contravening earlier statements he had made to the police.

Former House president Demetris Syllouris and former Akel MP Christakis Giovanis both remain accused, facing charges including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.

There had initially been four defendants in the case, with Antoniou, Giovani, and Syllouris joined in the dock by lawyer Andreas Pittadjis, who had become infamous for quipping that “this is Cyprus” during the documentary.

He was acquitted in 2023 and had since then acted as Antoniou’s defence lawyer.

Al Jazeera aired an almost hour-long expose of the scandal in October 2020, prompting Syllouris and Giovanis to both resign.

In the documentary, undercover reporters played the role of agents acting on behalf of a fictional Chinese businessman with a criminal record, aiming to secure him Cypriot citizenship.

Syllouris, Giovanis and others were shown offering to help the man in his quest for citizenship despite his criminal record.

The government of the day then scrapped Cyprus’ citizenship by investment scheme, with the European Union having launched legal proceedings over claims it had been used to sell passports to dubious individuals.

A subsequent inquiry found that 53 per cent of 6,779 citizenships granted through the scheme were unlawful, with the government since having commenced the process of cancelling the citizenship of some naturalised through the scheme.