He burned them and sold the copper…
According to the facts of the case, the 38-year-old has been an employee of Cyta since 1995 and during the essential time he was responsible for the regional warehouse of Famagusta, in Paralimni. In the course of his duties, he received materials for the various services of Cyta and the collection was made from the warehouses in Dali and Larnaca. The materials were received by the accused in a specified form and then charged by the accused in various Cyta Services, with a second form. All transactions were also recorded in the electronic system. As part of a preliminary audit conducted by Cyta in March 2011 on cable transport and management, irregularities appeared in the forms of distribution of the cables and the theft of a large amount of them, owned by Cyta. This was followed by an extensive search of the warehouse in Paralimni, at the responsibility of the 38-year-old, and the absence of a pile of forms was found.
A meeting was held between two Cyta employees - prosecution witnesses - and the accused, during which the latter admitted to carrying out virtual operations for the exploitation of cables, while in fact he was transporting the cables to the village of Sotira, where, according to the accused reported to the two Cyta employees, burned them and sold the copper. The forms were filled in with incorrect information and charged the stolen cables to contractors performing Cyta projects. The final inspection revealed the theft of cables with a total value of 973.983,40 euros. It is noted that the accused was acquitted of 136 other charges related to the offenses of forgery and circulation of a forged document, following a registration of suspension of criminal prosecution.
His fiancée was taking advantage of him:
The defendant's lawyer, speaking to mitigate his client's sentence, invoked his white criminal record, the immediate admission of his misconduct and the co-operation he showed to the Police for the full investigation of the case. He also referred to the report of the Welfare Office and the state of health of his client, presenting medical certificates. As for the offenses he committed, he argued that his purpose was to help his fiancée financially, who, however, later turned out to be "exploiting him", as is typically stated in the court's decision.
"He abused ATIK's trust":
The President of the District Court, Michalis Christodoulou, imposing the sentence of imprisonment on the accused, stressed the following: "ATIK benefited the defendant by hiring him first as an office assistant and then promoting him to the position of warehouse manager. She therefore surrounded him with confidence and entrusted him with the safekeeping of her assets of great value, a trust that the accused had abused. Taking advantage of the opportunity given to him by his position, he systematically for 11 months stole from the warehouse of his employer copper wires, which then melted and sold the copper in the market, in the occupied territories, taking care to cover the thefts with forged documents. He therefore abused the trust of his employer, from whom he stole a total of assets worth about one million euros, which were ultimately the property of the state, as ATIK is a public utility organization.». Source: today's