A report unveiled by the audit office on Tuesday revealed financial irregularities among all seven political parties which are represented in Cyprus’ parliament.

The report was based on the last parliamentary term, between 2016 and 2021, with the audit office writing that it found “discrepancies” between the lists which five political parties – Disy, Akel, Diko, Elam, and Dipa – produced on their websites and those filed to the audit office.

Discrepancies in Disy’s list were found for every year of the term, with the difference in the value of donations recorded on the party’s website and filed to the audit office totalling €114,487.

As for Akel, the audit office wrote that the party’s donation register was incomplete, and that thus an audit was not possible.

Financial discrepancies for donations to Diko totalled €10,360, with discrepancies regarding donations to Dipa totalling €2,500, and discrepancies regarding donations to Elam totalling €1,500.

The audit office also pointed out that Diko submitted no data for the years between 2016 and 2019, and that Dipa also submitted no data for the years between 2018 and 2020.

In addition, it was found that Akel and Diko had accepted donations from individuals who had exceeded the annual €50,000 limit in political donations.

No fewer than 19 individuals were found to have donated more than €50,000 in a single year to Akel, with the excess of their donations amounting to €184,946. Only one legal entity donated more than €50,000 in a year to Diko, giving the party a total of €62,500, thus exceeding the limit by €12,500.

Meanwhile, the issuing of receipts for donations was found in many cases to be non-compliant with the law, with the audit office writing that Diko, for example, had issued receipts for groups of donors without a detailed list of names.

Disy, meanwhile, had issued receipts and then recorded incorrect serial numbers in their own donor registers, while Akel, Diko, Elam, and the Green party had all on some occasions failed to issue receipts.

In addition, Disy, Akel, Diko, Elam, and the Green party were all found to have issued incorrect or incomplete receipts, while Edek and Dipa did not submit duplicates of their receipts to the audit office.

The audit office also recorded that political parties had accepted donations from entities which it said it was “unable to discern” whether or not they are registered in Cyprus, as all companies which donate to political parties must be by law.

Disy accepted donations from such entities on nine recorded occasions, with their income from such donations totalling €107,520.

Akel had accepted donations from potentially non-registered entities on a whopping 244 recorded occasions, though they only received €80,000. Diko, meanwhile, accepted a total of €111,250 from 21 such donations, while Dipa accepted €6,500 from such entities from four donations, and the Green party accepted €180 from three such donations.

Similar issues were recorded with companies which have not been “permanently established” in Cyprus for the minimum period of three years before they can begin donating money to political parties.

In total, Disy accepted €403,000 in donations from companies which did not meet these requirements, while Akel accepted €150,000, Diko accepted €210,000, and Edek accepted €25,000.

The report also found that Disy and Akel did not include in their reports to the audit office the results of their various offices, departments, and branches, with the audit office thus pointing out that their statements were “not prepared in accordance with the legislation”.

Meanwhile, the report wrote that Disy, Akel, Diko, Elam, Edek, and the Green party were all late in submitting their audited financial statements in 2016, while Dipa submitted its own audited financial statement late in 2018.

The report also criticised the fact that for its financial statements in 2020 and 2021, Elam’s financial statements had not been independently audited, but reviewed by the party’s internal accountant. This, the report wrote, is “not consistent with the law”.