Cook accused of stealing thousands to stand trial
A 53-year-old man on Monday pleaded not guilty to burglary charges brought against him for incidents in July 2022.
On Monday, the man appeared in the Larnaca-Famagusta Criminal Court, where a new hearing date was set for November 1 and he will remain in custody.
According to what was heard in court, at midnight on July 15-16, 2022, it was reported to the Kiti police station, by a foreign resident of the Pervolia tourist area, that $150,000 in cash and €40-50,000 had been stolen from his home, along with various gold jewellery estimated at a total value of €82,000.
Suspicions were raised against his Bulgarian cook, who was hired at the beginning of June 2022.
Police investigations revealed that on July 15, the 53-year-old left the house, where he was employed, at 1pm, despite his work finishing at 7pm.
On July 16 a warrant for his arrest was obtained, his details were placed on the Stop List and his photo was made public.
At noon on July 15, the 53-year-old had passed through the Ayios Dhometios checkpoint in Nicosia with a rental car, and the next day the car was found nearby.
The car was opened with spare keys and in the investigation that followed, gold pieces, worth approximately €7,000 were found, which were identified by the complainant’s wife.
The police issued a European Arrest Warrant and on September 2, 2022, the suspect was located and arrested in Tbilisi, Georgia, whose authorities notified the Larnaca police department in April this year.
In mid-May, the suspect was taken to Larnaca airport by two officers, who brought with them evidence that had been found in his possession during his arrest in Tbilisi.