Israeli agency ‘proud’ to have uncovered Christodoulides corruption footage

The Israeli private intelligence agency which was behind a video which alleged campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates on Friday said it is “proud” of the work it carried out.

Black Cube, which was founded in 2010 by former Israeli intelligence officers Dan Zorella and Avi Yanus, told the Cyprus Mail that it is “proud to have uncovered corruption carried out by Cyfield in Cyprus and to help facilitate a cleaner business environment”.

Cyfield is a construction company with strong links to the governments of both Christodoulides and his predecessor Nicos Anastasiades, with the company’s chief executive officer Giorgos Chrysochos having featured in the video, appearing to say that he pays €250,000 per year for his access to the government.

The agency also said that it “has engaged with [the] Cypriot authorities and is confident they will reach the truth and bring those responsible to justice”, and that it “obtains legal advice in every jurisdiction in which it operates to ensure the legality of its activities”.

Reports that the company had been involved in the publishing of the video had first surfaced on Friday.

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.

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.

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.