Roundup: Cypriot attorney general, his deputy locked in charges trading

In a tit-for-tat action, Cypriot Deputy Attorney General Rikkos Erotokritou lodged an official complaint on Thursday against his boss accusing him of corruption and bribes-receiving -- the same charges the attorney general brought against him two days ago.

Cypriots are following in astonishment and disbelief the development of an unprecedented controversy at the eastern Mediterranean island's Law Office as a rift between its two top officers is tearing the department apart.

Making use of procedures he knows well, Erotokritou stepped into the police headquarters Thursday morning and emerged in the late afternoon telling journalists that he had detailed out crimes allegedly committed by Attorney General Costas Clerides.

"I named names and I talked about crimes committed in concrete dealings in places I specified," Erotokritou said.

He said his deposition to the police was to continue on Friday.

Erotokritou told police investigators that Clerides acted corruptly, in exchange for an unspecified bribe, to prevent criminal proceedings against two Russian brothers suspected of fraudulently obtaining the shares of their deceased father's company called Providencia to cheat their under-aged half-blood sister out of a 250-million-euro inheritance.

He claimed the attorney general had acted on the request of the lawyer of the Russian brothers.

Clerides, citing the findings of criminal investigators, accused Erotokritou on Tuesday of corruptly ordering criminal proceedings against the Russian brothers in exchange for a favor by the lawyer of the under-aged girl and Providencia.

Erotokritou also claimed that the attorney general has been holding back investigations for tracking down and bringing to justice the people responsible for the collapse of the Cypriot economy.

Erotokritou had demanded in strong terms the resignation of the governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, Chrystalla Georghadji, accusing her of a conflict of interest in the winding down of Laiki Bank, which was at the center of the Cypriot economic crisis.

He said she or her daughter benefited through the law office of her estranged husband which represented Greek businessman and banker Andreas Vgenopoulos in legal proceedings over the collapse of Laiki Bank.

Georghadji reacted by telling a Central Bank board meeting that Erotokritou had been bribed by the law office of Andreas Neocleous, which represented both Laiki Bank in its litigation with Vgenopoulos and also the Providencia offshore company in the inheritance dispute, in exchange for initiating criminal proceedings against the Russian brothers.

When the allegation was made public during a session of a parliamentary watchdog committee, the attorney general appointed a criminal investigator to probe Georghadji's allegations.

The investigator prepared a 150-page report containing evidence he collected in a 15-day probe.

The report has not been seen by anybody else but Clerides, who said that he would prefer charges of corruption and bribes-receiving against his deputy on the strength of the criminal investigators' findings.

Erotokritou protested by claiming that the move was a conspiracy "by the establishment" which was annoyed by his investigations into economic crimes that led Cyprus to the brink of bankruptcy.

He added a dramatic element to the case by describing a "circle of people" who could pose a threat to his life.

He also claimed that the investigations were either delayed or were being misled and blamed Clerides, the Central Bank governor and Vgenopoulos.

The rift between the two top officers at the Law Office also led to a standoff between the attorney general and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

Anastasiades said he would have the Council of Ministers appoint a criminal investigator to probe the allegations of the deputy attorney general, but he then backed down when opposition parties accused him of trying to interfere in the realm of the Law Office.

But he called on Clerides to appoint an investigator himself, only to be rebuked in unusually strong terms.

Clerides said it was a shame that the president had encouraged Erotokritou to become an accuser by suggesting an investigation into his claims.

Anastasiades refrained from replying to Clerides' rebuke, saying that contempt was the only fitting response.

But he jabbed at Clerides, telling him that "I will not neglect to urge you to utilize the assistance the state has granted you to finally bring those responsible for the state's economic destruction before justice the soonest."

A police spokesman said investigators will examine Erotokritou's deposit when it is concluded and will decide on their moves.

But legal experts said taking action will lead to unprecedented constitutional issues.

They said the normal procedure in criminal cases is for the police to prepare a report to the attorney general who is the only competent authority to order criminal proceedings.

But as it would be impossible for the attorney general to decide on the case directly involving him, the legal experts said a special panel of High Court judges may be needed to break the impasse in a procedure that has never been applied before and which may lead to unforeseen developments. Endi