Thousands withdrew money from Cyprus before haircut, says report
Six thousand individuals and legal entities withdrew tens of millions of euros in cash from Cypriot banks and sent it abroad in the period from March 1-15, just days before Cyprus clinched a deal with foreign creditors demanding that banks contribute to the country’s bailout with a hefty haircut on deposits.
The data was sent by the Cypriot Central Bank to Parliament’s Ethics Committee on Tuesday.
Committee Chairman Dimitris Syllouris confirmed that the data show that there were cases in which three or four transactions were carried out by the same person. He also expressed his annoyance at the fact that the data covered only 15 days when the committee, which is investigating the handling of the crisis, had requested information covering a full year.
The Central Bank will be questioned over the issue on Thursday when the committee is due to convene for an emergency session.
Meanwhile, one of a separate three-man panel of former Supreme Court judges investigating the present economic crisis resigned on Tuesday, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
Yiannakis Constantinides cited health reasons for his decision. The panel was appointed by the government on March 28, and includes George Pikis and Panayiotis Kallis.
