Cypriot authorities have arrested three individuals, including a police officer, as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization linked to money laundering, tax evasion and extortion targeting companies such as Forex companies.
according to Sigma Live, Quoted from the official news agency CNA It has also been translated into English, The Nicosia District Court issued arrest warrants for three suspects following police operations in Limassol. Two people, aged 49 and 50, will remain in custody for seven days, while a 45-year-old police officer will be detained for eight days.
Investigators told the court that the group may have ties with a person wanted by Greek authorities in cases related to cigarette and fuel smuggling.
You may also like: CySEC pulls certificate records because scammers exploit license details
Police are examining allegations that the network provided “protection” services to companies, including… Forex
Forex
Foreign exchange or Forex is the process of converting the currency of one country into the currency of another country (which has a different currency); For example, converting British pounds to US dollars, and vice versa. Currency exchange can take place over a physical counter, such as at an exchange office, or online through brokerage platforms, where currency speculation, known as forex trading, takes place. The foreign exchange market, by its nature, is the largest trading market in the world.
Foreign exchange or Forex is the process of converting the currency of one country into the currency of another country (which has a different currency); For example, converting British pounds to US dollars, and vice versa. Currency exchange can take place over a physical counter, such as at an exchange office, or online through brokerage platforms, where currency speculation, known as forex trading, takes place. The foreign exchange market, by its nature, is the largest trading market in the world.
Read this term Companies. The newspaper reported that authorities are also reviewing possible links between the group and recent criminal acts, including arson and shooting incidents.
The investigation focuses on the police officer’s financial activity between 2020 and 2026. After obtaining court orders, the authorities identified bank transactions that were disproportionate to his declared income. They also found luxury cars with no clear financing records.
Financial investigation and seized assets
The other two suspects are facing investigation on charges of participating in the same criminal organization and money laundering. Authorities located money in bank accounts and four luxury cars that appeared to conflict with her income. About 200,000 euros of assets linked to the couple were frozen.
During the Limassol operations, police confiscated property valued at more than €420,000, including five luxury cars and other items from the suspects’ residences. The suspects did not object to their arrest orders.
In the past year, there has been increased scrutiny on the forex sector in Cyprus, but no large-scale police-style raids similar to an organized crime operation targeting companies with alleged “protection” schemes have been reported.
2025: Tight censorship and allegations, not raids
CySEC’s own audit for 2025 shows that it conducted around 600 inspections of Cypriot investment firms, imposed fines worth almost €2.3 million that year, and suspended or withdrew four CIF licences. Several cases were referred to the police, the Public Prosecutor, and the Anti-Money Laundering Unit. These were supervisory and enforcement measures rather than on-the-ground crackdowns involving arrests and seizures of assets at foreign exchange offices.
In parallel, Paphos Mayor Fedonas Feddonos has publicly claimed links to him between some Cyprus-based Forex companies and Latin American drug cartels last year, claiming that Cyprus risks becoming part of… Money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is an umbrella term to describe the process by which criminals conceal the original ownership and proceeds of criminal behavior by making these proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source. Money laundering is an issue that cuts across countless industries and sectors, including financial services. Although criminal funds can be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally generated funds are laundered
Money laundering is an umbrella term to describe the process by which criminals conceal the original ownership and proceeds of criminal behavior by making these proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source. Money laundering is an issue that cuts across countless industries and sectors, including financial services. Although criminal funds can be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally generated funds are laundered
Read this term network.
CySEC responded that it was collecting data and cooperating with local and international authorities to determine whether further investigation was needed, and stressed that it was enforcing EU rules and applying penalties for violations.
Interestingly, Scammers have gone so far as to hijack public review platforms Such as TrustPilot and Google Business to pretend to be CySEC officials, tricking investors into paying bogus “recovery” fees. This has prompted the regulator to warn that it never contacts individuals to ask for money, and to roll out social media monitoring tools that track multilingual posts in real time so it can quickly remove fake content and clamp down on such impersonation schemes.
Cypriot authorities have arrested three individuals, including a police officer, as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization linked to money laundering, tax evasion and extortion targeting companies such as Forex companies.
according to Sigma Live, Quoted from the official news agency CNA It has also been translated into English, The Nicosia District Court issued arrest warrants for three suspects following police operations in Limassol. Two people, aged 49 and 50, will remain in custody for seven days, while a 45-year-old police officer will be detained for eight days.
Investigators told the court that the group may have ties with a person wanted by Greek authorities in cases related to cigarette and fuel smuggling.
You may also like: CySEC pulls certificate records because scammers exploit license details
Police are examining allegations that the network provided “protection” services to companies, including… Forex
Forex
Foreign exchange or Forex is the process of converting the currency of one country into the currency of another country (which has a different currency); For example, converting British pounds to US dollars, and vice versa. Currency exchange can take place over a physical counter, such as at an exchange office, or online through brokerage platforms, where currency speculation, known as forex trading, takes place. The foreign exchange market, by its nature, is the largest trading market in the world.
Foreign exchange or Forex is the process of converting the currency of one country into the currency of another country (which has a different currency); For example, converting British pounds to US dollars, and vice versa. Currency exchange can take place over a physical counter, such as at an exchange office, or online through brokerage platforms, where currency speculation, known as forex trading, takes place. The foreign exchange market, by its nature, is the largest trading market in the world.
Read this term Companies. The newspaper reported that authorities are also reviewing possible links between the group and recent criminal acts, including arson and shooting incidents.
The investigation focuses on the police officer’s financial activity between 2020 and 2026. After obtaining court orders, the authorities identified bank transactions that were disproportionate to his declared income. They also found luxury cars with no clear financing records.
Financial investigation and seized assets
The other two suspects are facing investigation on charges of participating in the same criminal organization and money laundering. Authorities located money in bank accounts and four luxury cars that appeared to conflict with her income. About 200,000 euros of assets linked to the couple were frozen.
During the Limassol operations, police confiscated property valued at more than €420,000, including five luxury cars and other items from the suspects’ residences. The suspects did not object to their arrest orders.
In the past year, there has been increased scrutiny on the forex sector in Cyprus, but no large-scale police-style raids similar to an organized crime operation targeting companies with alleged “protection” schemes have been reported.
2025: Tight censorship and allegations, not raids
CySEC’s own audit for 2025 shows that it conducted around 600 inspections of Cypriot investment firms, imposed fines worth almost €2.3 million that year, and suspended or withdrew four CIF licences. Several cases were referred to the police, the Public Prosecutor, and the Anti-Money Laundering Unit. These were supervisory and enforcement measures rather than on-the-ground crackdowns involving arrests and seizures of assets at foreign exchange offices.
In parallel, Paphos Mayor Fedonas Feddonos has publicly claimed links to him between some Cyprus-based Forex companies and Latin American drug cartels last year, claiming that Cyprus risks becoming part of… Money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is an umbrella term to describe the process by which criminals conceal the original ownership and proceeds of criminal behavior by making these proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source. Money laundering is an issue that cuts across countless industries and sectors, including financial services. Although criminal funds can be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally generated funds are laundered
Money laundering is an umbrella term to describe the process by which criminals conceal the original ownership and proceeds of criminal behavior by making these proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source. Money laundering is an issue that cuts across countless industries and sectors, including financial services. Although criminal funds can be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally generated funds are laundered
Read this term network.
CySEC responded that it was collecting data and cooperating with local and international authorities to determine whether further investigation was needed, and stressed that it was enforcing EU rules and applying penalties for violations.
Interestingly, Scammers have gone so far as to hijack public review platforms Such as TrustPilot and Google Business to pretend to be CySEC officials, tricking investors into paying bogus “recovery” fees. This has prompted the regulator to warn that it never contacts individuals to ask for money, and to roll out social media monitoring tools that track multilingual posts in real time so it can quickly remove fake content and clamp down on such impersonation schemes.
