President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday pledged a full investigation into explosive allegations made by journalist Makarios Drousiotis, as law enforcement authorities appeared to have their hands full as they also looked into corruption claims leveled by a social media personality.

“Of course, an investigation will be carried out to the end,” the president said during a visit to the police academy.

He was referring to the probe underway into the allegations by Drousiotis – a researcher claiming to have uncovered a longstanding cabal of judicial and political figures supposedly engaging in white-collar crime and covering it up.

Asked if the allegations could be part of a deliberate attempt to foment political instability ahead of elections, the president declined to speculate.

Drousiotis is basing his claims on a trove of text messages that were in the possession of a woman named ‘Sandy’ – the purported source of the information.

Earlier this week the journalist handed over material to authorities.

Reportedly, the material now in the possession of the police includes a mobile phone attributed to ‘Sandy’, plus more than 130 digital files provided by Drousiotis, primarily screenshots of alleged communications and spreadsheet data.

But a police spokesman declined to clarify whether ‘Sandy’s’ mobile phone, or other mobile devices, are included among the evidentiary items sent on to Europol.

He also declined to state whether ‘Sandy’ has given a statement to police, or whether she has been summoned to do so.

The spokesman said only that police have taken statements from a number of persons.

Asked about a timeline for the completion of the analysis by Europol, he said he could not specify.

On Wednesday the cabinet, having been briefed on the progress of the police investigation, took a decision to send the digital material to Europol’s cybercrime laboratories for forensic analysis.

Justice Minister Costas Fitiris said the move was intended to ensure technical accuracy and fend off accusations of bias.

Depending on the results of Europol’s technical analysis, he added, the government might then appoint an independent investigator.

On this, a cybersecurity and computer forensics specialist told the Cyprus Mail that the job could have been done by Cypriot law enforcement.

“They absolutely have all the tech means and competence to do the forensic analysis,” Dinos Pastos said.

Likewise, the Europol findings can be vetted by Cypriot law enforcement.

For his part, Drousiotis has accused state authorities of attempting to discredit his claims. He also dismissed the notion that Europol’s involvement guarantees independence.

“There is no ‘European police officer’ with an independent investigative capacity,” he said, explaining that the agency relies on officers seconded by member states.

He further alleged a conflict of interest, claiming that the head of Cyprus’ liaison office at Europol is involved in legal proceedings against him.

Drousiotis stressed that no independent criminal investigators have been appointed domestically.

As a result, he said, “the investigation continues to be conducted by the Cyprus police, which is already involved in the case and operates under the instructions” of attorney-general George Savvides and his deputy Savvas Angelides, who he claims are themselves under scrutiny and “directly involved” in the allegations of corruption.

In another twist, Drousiotis asserted that at one time ‘Sandy’ worked at the presidential palace.

The government has denied this. Deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou told CyBC on Thursday that checks had been carried out and that “no woman with the information that refers to the identity of this particular woman has been employed, at least during the current administration.”

The position of ‘Sandy’ herself remains uncertain, as her now former lawyer says she had retracted her previous statements against Michalakis Christodoulou and various members of the apparent ‘Rosicrucian’ brotherhood “under duress and external pressure”.

Additional scrutiny has been directed at specific elements within the so-called ‘Sandy files’, amongst which is a screenshot of what appears to be an Excel spreadsheet listing financial transactions, including an entry referring to a €250,000 payment involving a company named PJSC BIO MED SKLO.

Politis reported that corporate registry searches confirm that a company with that name exists and operates as a glass manufacturer in Ukraine, with links to a Greek-owned industrial group that maintains a corporate presence in Cyprus.

Financial professionals who reviewed the screenshot noted that the format does not correspond to standard banking documentation.

They indicated that the image appears to show a manually created list rather than an official account statement, raising questions about how the data was compiled and whether it reflects actual transactions.

The screenshot, which Drousiotis made public, also contains spelling errors, such as the line “Transfert (sic) to Michael Christodoulou” – supposedly referencing Michalakis Christodoulou.

At the same time, authorities are busy investigating information provided by social media personality Ioanna Fotiou, who goes by the handle ‘Annie Alexui’. She is alleging corruption on the part of seven police officers.

On Thursday it became known that an independent criminal investigator will look into her claims.

‘Alexui’ indicated that further allegations may follow, stating that “there are other police officers about whom I have much more serious material”.

She insisted that similar complaints have been filed with institutions outside Cyprus, though she did not specify which bodies.

Her claims have included accusations against senior police figures, such as deputy police-chief Michalis Katsounotos and references to past incidents she says were not properly investigated.