Israeli private intelligence agency allegedly behind Christodoulides corruption video
An Israeli private intelligence agency was behind a video which surfaced in January, alleging campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates, according to reports on Friday.
Newspaper Politis reported that the footage had been compiled by Black Cube, which was founded in 2010 by former Israeli intelligence officers Dan Zorella and Avi Yanus.
Black Cube describes itself as a “select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units that specialises in tailored solutions to complex business and litigation challenges”.
Zorella had previously been an agent of Aman, the Israel Defence Forces’ military intelligence directorate, before joining forces with Yanus to create Black Cube, which in the last 16 years has uncovered various incidences of alleged corruption in countries across the globe.
Those incidences include allegations of widespread corruption in Panama’s judiciary and in Mexico’s state-owned petroleum corporation Pemex, though the agency’s actions have generated controversy in the past.
Two of its agents were arrested in Romania and convicted of criminal charges, including harassment and hacking, while it also drew controversy for assisting efforts to discredit women who had accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse.
More recently, Black Cube worked with aides to United States President Donald Trump in 2017 to undermine the Iran nuclear deal by attacking the characters of officials from his predecessor Barack Obama’s administration, while it also aided electoral campaigns run by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In 2018, magazine Forbes Israel described Black Cube as “the Mossad of the business world”.
The video first appeared on social media on January 8, having been shared by an account using the handle “EmilyTanalyst” and the name “Emily Thompson”.
It features Christodoulides’ now former chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous and former minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis appearing to explain how they used and intended to continue to use cash donations to circumvent election campaign finance laws.
Both men also appeared to say that donations to Christodoulides by oligarchs under threat of appearing on international sanctions list would lead to him defending and assisting them to avoid sanctions from the European Union.
Construction company Cyfield’s chief executive officer Giorgos Chrysochos, meanwhile, appeared to say that he pays €250,000 per year for his access to the government.
Additionally, it was alleged that the social support body, a fund managed by the first lady of the day which offers financial assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, was being used by donors to curry favours with Christodoulides.
In light of the video’s publication, First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides resigned from her role as the social support body’s chairwoman and Charalambous resigned from his role as chief of staff.
The government has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and appointed former Supreme Court judge Andreas Paschalides to investigate the matter.
Last week, he requested a two-month extension to the time allotted to him to investigate, and the government acquiesced.