The records of the land registry are reliable, the Nicosia criminal court heard on Tuesday as a senior official of the department testified in the ongoing case against Israeli property developer Simon Aykut, accused of developing and selling €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north.

Andreas Hadjiraftis testified about the Afik Group’s developments in Trikomo, Akanthos and Ayios Ambrosios and Kyrenia, where the Ceasar Resort, Ceasar Breeze, Ceasar Bay and Caesar Cliff have been developed.

In 2023, he said, the police had sent letters to the land registries of Kyrenia and Famagusta to identify who owned the plots.

Responding to questioning by prosecution lawyer Andreas Aristides, Hadjiraftis said that following the 1974 invasion, the land registry records for Kyrenia and Famagusta remained in the occupied areas. In the 1980s, the government invited refugees to declare their real estate assets in the north as had been recorded at the land registry.

This information, he said, was confirmed by community leaders and today exists as an ‘ownership system’ within the land registry.

He also explained that the satellite images provided by the police were compared by land registry officials to areas developed by the Afik group to determine on whose land they were being built.

The last search was made on May 30, 2024, for the Ceasar Breeze complex, which did not seem to exist when police began investigations in 2023. Satellite images last May showed the growth and extent it occupied, he said.

Asked by defence lawyer Maria Neophytou why this check was only recently carried out, he said it was because of the court case.

During cross-examination, Neophytou reiterated that the law distinguishes property certificates from registration certificates, noting that title deeds are considered registration certificates, while property certificates are considered “temporary records”. As the procedure followed at the land registry did not strictly follow the letter of the law and go via the cabinet, these records cannot be confirmed, she added.

However, the witness said the records of the land registry are reliable.

When asked why a specific plot at the Ceaser Cliff development has no record of title deed ownership, he said it was because no one had registered as its owner.

The case will continue on September 9 and 15.