The file of the criminal investigation carried out against the former MP and MEP of DISY Andreas Pitsillidis is expected to be submitted to the General Prosecutor Costas Clerides in the next 24 hours by the TAE Nicosia in order to decide whether to judge him.
The reason was the failure to comply with the current legislation which provides for the submission of his election expenses for control purposes, in the first stage, by the Election Commissioner and, in the second stage, by the Auditor General Odysseas Michailidis. The instructions for the criminal investigation were given by the Prosecutor General after Andreas Pitsillidis was warned repeatedly and, subsequently, he was fined, which he refused to pay.
In particular, the current legislation stipulates that, within three weeks from the publication of the election result in the Official Gazette of the Republic, the electoral representative of the candidate during the election submits to the Ephorate an accurate ballot report. The Curator, in case of late submission of the report, imposes on the candidate a fine of € 500, which is increased by € 50 for each additional day of delay in submission of the report. The Superintendent submits the reports to the Auditor General for audit no later than 15 days from the date of receipt. If a candidate or electoral representative fails to comply for a period exceeding one month from the deadline for submission of the report, it is an illegal act.
The only one of the 493
The case of Andreas Pitsillidis was also dealt with by the Auditor General Odysseas Michailidis, who by law now controls both the election expenses of the candidates and the parties. In his annual report for the year 2015, which was published in December, the Auditor General refers to the case of Pitsillidis, without naming him. Noting that, out of the 493 candidates who took part in the parliamentary elections held on 22/5/2016, only one candidate, Andreas Pitsillidis, did not submit a report on election expenses.
Among other things, in his report Odysseas Michailidis states the following: The Election Commissioner of the Nicosia Region, on 14/6/2016, informed the candidate for MP Andreas Pitsillidis that, due to untimely submission of the report of the election expenses and the accompanying statement a fine of € 500 was imposed, which is increased by € 50 for each additional day of delay, and that failure to comply with the reporting obligation for a period exceeding one month from the deadline for submission makes him guilty of illegal activity. On 19/7/2016, the Superintendent requested the consent of the Attorney General for criminal prosecution against Pitsillidis as he had not complied, nor did he pay the fine imposed on him. The Attorney General forwarded the letter of the Superintendent on 19/8/2016 to the Chief of Police and requested a criminal investigation.
He did not respond to the accusation
As confirmed by Andreas Pitsillidis himself, he did not want to respond to the accusation leveled against him for failing to file a report on election expenses. Asked why he did not submit, as required by law, the specific statement, unlike the other 492 candidates, he replied that he submitted the specific statement electronically! He admitted, however, that he had been instructed to submit it in writing, as required by law, and did not do so. As for his election expenses, he stated that he did not spend a single cent of the euro.
Mr. Pitsillidis rightly raised the issue of hole control and specifically how it is ascertained whether what the candidates indicate in the statements of their election expenses that they submit correspond to reality. However, this does not invalidate the obligation under the law for all candidates to file a statement of election expenses within a specified time period.
Under the microscope of the Auditor General the election expenses
The Auditor General continues to control the election expenditure reports of the remaining 492 candidates, which is expected to be completed in two weeks. Immediately after, the Auditor General will put under his microscope the election expenses of the parliamentary parties.
According to the current legislation, the parties are obliged, if they took part in any state elections, to keep complete financial data and to submit to the Electoral Commission detailed statements of income and expenses for their election campaign, no later than three months after the conduct of the elections. elections. The Commissioner then submits these revenue and expenditure statements to the Auditor General no later than four months after the election date. The results of the audits should be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic and on the website of the Audit Office. In the event that the above timetables are violated by the parties, the legislation provides for a fine of up to € 20.000.
Source: Liberal