Former volunteer commissioner sentenced to three years for document forgery

The court in Nicosia sentenced the former volunteer commissioner to three years in prison for using forged documents during employment and throughout his career. The verdict was delivered by Judge Nicole Gregoriou: two consecutive terms of 18 months each for two instances of submitting officially forged documents.

The case lasted three years and four months from the time the charges were filed. In April, the defendant admitted guilt on three counts related to the deliberate distribution of forged documents. Initially, the prosecution filed eight charges, five of which were dropped during the trial.

According to investigation materials, the defendant worked at the Cyprus Youth Board from June 1996, was appointed volunteer commissioner in 2013, and resigned in 2021 when the forged documents scandal erupted. San Diego State University confirmed to the police that he did not hold the claimed civil engineering degree that he allegedly obtained in 1992.

The court noted that the defendant benefited financially over a long period from submitting false qualifications; his net salary as commissioner was €5,090 per month. The court did not determine that the documents were forged by the defendant himself. The case drew attention to the procedures for verifying qualifications when appointing public officials.