Commercial properties and holiday homes linked to Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) were built despite lacking the proper permits, the audit office said in a report published on Tuesday.

One case flagged related to developments in the Famagusta district – specifically in Sotira municipality and located inside or abutting an area designated as Natura 2000, a protected nature area.

Here, the auditor-general found “violations of essential terms of the zoning permit within a mixed-use tourist development as well as the construction of residential dwellings prior to securing all the prescribed permits and approvals”.

A company belonging to a PEP had breached terms of the zoning permit by building additional floors beyond those approved.

The company then applied for a new zoning permit, but it was denied by the town planning authorities. The applicants appealed, but their appeal was rejected. They then took recourse at the administrative court, asking for a reversal of that decision and requesting that they be granted a derogation from the local zoning plan.

Later, in January 2023, the cabinet authorised the town planning authorities to grant the company a temporary permit (for five years).

Following pressure from the audit office, the cabinet subsequently reversed its decision, in June of the same year. It noted that the views of the environment department – which had pointed out violations relating to environmental regulations – were binding on an EU level. Based on this, the town planning authorities then rejected the company’s application for additions/conversions.

Next the company again went to the administrative court, which on technical grounds found fault with the environment department, and ruled in favour of the applicant.

In a separate case, in April 2021 a company belonging to the same PEP managed to build holiday homes without having secured the requisite town planning and construction permits.

Following the intervention of the audit office, Sotira municipality reported the surveyors to the Scientific and Technical Chamber (Etek). The file meanwhile was forwarded to the attorney-general’s office to investigate possible criminal, civil or disciplinary offences.

“Despite the seriousness of the violations, up until today the case is still pending,” said the audit office.

In Cyprus, a PEP is defined as an individual tasked with an important public function. This includes heads of state, ministers, MPs, judges, ambassadors and senior military officers. The definition also covers close relatives of such individuals.

Another case highlighted by the auditor-general concerned illegal premises in the Akamas peninsula.

According to the report, the audit office was briefed by Peyia municipality that certain illegal constructions – including a restaurant and a snack bar – had been demolished following a court order.

However, after receiving photographic evidence to the contrary, and after visiting the site, the audit office determined that the premises still stood.

In June 2024 the Audit Office asked Peyia municipality to carry out their own on-site inspection to confirm. Later, in March 2025, Akamas municipality informed the auditor-general that “intense efforts are being made to remove the illegal constructions”.