Salih Cansec, the chief of the north’s tender commission, on Thursday had his remand extended for a further seven days after having been arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of taking bribes.

According to newspaper Yeniduzen, a representative of  the Turkish Cypriot police told the court on Friday that Whatsapp messages related to the alleged bribes had been found on Cansec’s mobile phone, and that since he last appeared in court on Thursday, 15 people have been questioned and 12 statements have been taken.

The representative asked for further time to examine digital evidence both on Cansec’s mobile phone and on electronic devices belonging to his assistant, who was also arrested on Wednesday, and as such, the court extended his remand for a further seven days.

His assistant also had her remand extended for a further week.

During Thursday’s hearing, the representative told the court that Cansec “gave information about tenders in advance to people who would participate in them”.

The representative made reference to a nursing home in the village of Kapouti, near Morphou, with Cansec having allegedly received a bribe of 510,000TL (€10,386) and £2,500 (€2,833) in exchange for the provision of information regarding a tender which was being held for renovations there.

One mobile phone was taken from his house during a search, while a search of the home of his assistant turned up two USB sticks, three laptops, and a mobile phone.

It was alleged in court that his assistant had prepared a file regarding a tender which was put out for cleaning services at the north’s civil defence building, and sent it to a company which was due to participate in the tender process.

In exchange for this, the assistant allegedly received a bribe of 50,000TL (€1,018) and Cansec allegedly received a bribe of 100,000TL (€2,037).