The high-profile trial into Cyprus’ controversial citizenship-by-investment programme resumed on Monday with testimony from two key witnesses before the permanent criminal court in Nicosia.

The case centres on allegations of abuse within the now-defunct scheme, exposed in 2020 by an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera. The defendants are former House speaker Demetris Syllouris and former MP Christakis Giovanis.

The first to take the stand was a police officer who served on Syllouris’ security team between June 2016 and October 2020. Reading from his written statement, state prosecutor Harris Karaolidou told the court that the officer had no knowledge of Syllouris’ involvement in the investment programme during his service. He only learned about the allegations through the Al Jazeera report.

The officer confirmed he had met Giovanis during his parliamentary tenure, but said he did not know the other two original defendants, Antonis Antoniou and Andreas Pittadjis. Charges against the latter two have since been dropped. He also said that Syllouris and Giovanis were friends, and that he had once driven Syllouris to Giovanis’ home. However, he could not confirm whether they had any professional ties.

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During cross-examination, defence lawyer Chris Triantafyllides asked whether the officer had monitored visitors to Syllouris’ office. The witness said entry to the then speaker’s office was always controlled. Asked if he had ever overheard Syllouris discussing the investment scheme during car journeys, he replied no. The second defence lawyer, Giorgos Papaioannou, chose not to question the witness.

The court then heard from a second witness, a former deputy director at the international business centre of Hellenic Bank in Larnaca. He told the court he had overseen transaction monitoring and payment approvals.

Reading from his own 2022 police statement, the witness explained that he had provided authorities with records from a bank account opened on October 27, 2018. The account, held in the name of Russian investor Nikolai Gornovski, was managed by lawyer Andreas Pittadjis.

The documents showed a €2.3 million transfer on December 20, 2018 from Gornovski’s Swiss account, followed by another payment of €1.13 million to a company linked to the Giovanis Group. The money was reportedly used for property purchases in Cyprus.

The witness also submitted four property sale contracts signed on December 21, 2018, which he said justified the bank transfers. When asked by Karaolidou to explain the delay between the two payments, the first in December 2018 and the second in June 2019, he said the second payment was made later at the instruction of Pittadjis.

He added that Pittadjis could have issued the payment instructions earlier, as long as the required documents had been provided.

Under cross-examination, Triantafyllides asked whether any irregularities had been detected in the transactions. The witness said none were found. Papaioannou again declined to ask questions.

The proceedings were then adjourned due to the absence of a third scheduled witness. Karaolidou informed the court that a senior investigator involved in the case would testify on Tuesday. The trial will resume on May 13, at 10.30am. Additional hearing dates have been set for May 27 and 29, as well as June 3, 4, 5, 11, 16, 17, 19, and 25, with the aim of concluding the case in the coming weeks.