INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Cyprus vowed Tuesday to investigate new allegations by a group of international journalists that it was a hub for Russian money-laundering
enabling oligarchs to bypass sanctions.According to an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and
67 media partners, the east Mediterranean island "plays an even bigger role than was commonly known in moving dirty money for Russian
President Vladimir Putin and other brutal dictators."Collected documents "offer a penetrating look inside the rogue financial system that
has helped empower some of the West's most determined foes," said the probe, titled Cyprus Confidential.Leaked internal records, dating from
the mid-1990s to April 2022, include confidential background checks, organizational charts, financial statements, bank account applications
and email messages, ICIJ said Tuesday.Following the ICIJ publication, President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters Tuesday: "Everything
that has come to light will be investigated, and no one is above our country's reputation.""All the information that has come to light will
be investigated within a specified timeframe..
The reputation of our country, the credibility of our country, you understand, is crucial," he added.It is not the first time European Union
member Cyprus has been labeled a safe haven for the illicit gains of Russian oligarchs.Cyprus has cracked down on those named by the United
States and Britain for allegedly helping Russian oligarchs bypass sanctions on Moscow because of the Ukraine war.The east Mediterranean
island is home to a large Russian diaspora
says it has taken stringent action against money laundering and sanctions-busting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.But ICIJ
said the island's dependence on Russian and other foreign money carried consequences only now being realized.The probe took eight months and
all bank deposits on the island currently belong to Russians.
