Greek-Cypriot Attorney General Costas Clerides announced that five Bank of Cyprus officials are facing serious charges that could result to 20-year prison sentences. The Bank of Cyprus is the bailed in lender of the country whose economy faced difficulties in 2012. The five Bank of Cyprus officials will be the first bankers to be charged in the collapse of the country’s primary lender, which had to seize 47.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros in order recapitalize. The five men who will be charged are Andreas Eliades, former Bank of Cyprus CEO, Yiannis Kypris, current CEO, Theodoros Aristodemou, former board chairman, Andreas Artemi, former board vice chairman and Yiannis Pehlivanidis, the former deputy CEO who overlooked the bank’s operations in Greece. Furthermore, the Bank of Cyprus, as a legal entity, will also be charged. Following a year-long criminal investigation, the five men are facing charges of stock market manipulation, providing false and misleading statements, failing to provide information to investors, as well as other charges that have yet to be been announced. The official offenses are related to the bankers’ actions during the second half of 2012 when the Bank of Cyprus lost part of its capital due to the devaluation of Greek bonds. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already fined the five bank officials for publishing false information and manipulating the stock market.
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