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Cyprus has turned into a mafia’s paradise. Illicit money, drugs and illegal betting business circulating all over the island reveal a dark picture where politics and crime are intertwined.
Messages of condolence received following the assassination of Halil Falyalı in 2022 clearly showcased the scope of mafia solidarity in Cyprus. The fact that Loukas Fanieros, the famous mafia leader of Southern Cyprus, referred to Falyalı as ‘a man like a man’ was part of this dark alliance.
According to research by the International Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Falyalı’s global virtual betting empire has been growing even in the aftermath of his death. Links in Armenia, Malta and Belarus always lead to Cyprus. Dozens of journalists have come together to reveal that illicit money is travelling north in suitcases from both Turkey and Southern Cyprus. It is argued that senior military officials are involved in the business, that they pay large sums of money to their men at customs and help establish this set-up.
In Turkey, reports of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) of the Ministry of Finance reveal in detail how shell companies work to launder illicit money earned from illegal virtual betting, and how the illicit money is laundered and introduced to the system.
MASAK’s report from 2010 states that the Falyalı network circulated the money with a typical money laundering method, and that the money travelling abroad until it was laundered was then brought to Turkey. Of course, in the meantime, the issue all comes back to Cyprus. Gambling revenues are transferred by Selina Holding—which has an account at the First Curacao International Bank—and Carob Holdings, owned by Demetris Papaprodromou, Nicholas Marcos and Dorado Services, headquartered in southern Cyprus, under the pretense of ‘company activity’.
The billions of dollars of illicit money flowing through Cyprus are influencing the political elites on both sides of the island. This is the biggest obstacle to a real peace in Cyprus. Will the leaders in the north and south continue to protect these shady structures, or will they take steps to direct Cyprus towards a real peace?
The informal five-partied meeting expected to take place on 17-18 March will seek answers to these questions. Will these criminal networks, which are the biggest obstacle to peace in Cyprus, be dismantled? Or, will the future of the island continue to remain in the shadow of the mafia?
This article was originally published on 04.03.2025
Source: CYPRUS: IS PEACE POSSIBLE IN THE SHADOW OF THE MAFIA?
