The saga of the trial of former volunteerism commissioner Yiannakis Yiannaki comes to a close this Thursday when the judge will read out the sentencing, media reported on Monday.

It has been three years and four months since charges of forging and circulating fraudulent documents were filed against Yiannaki.

On Thursday, Nicosia district court judge Nicole Gregoriou will read out the sentence, as the defendant has already pleaded guilty to the charge of circulating forged documents –a college degree purportedly from San Diego State University in the United States, and his high-school diploma.

Yiannaki had submitted these documents when previously applying for a job with the Youth Board – a semi-governmental organisation. Prior to being appointed volunteerism commissioner, Yiannaki began his career at the Youth Board in June 1996.

He was made volunteerism commissioner in 2013 until his resignation in 2021 when the doctored documents scandal broke.

The forgery affair dates back to May 2021, when then-president Nikos Anastasiades accepted Yiannaki’s resignation.

In May 2022, the attorney-general filed indictments against Yiannaki at Nicosia district court.

At the first hearing in the trial, in June of the same year, the defendant entered a not-guilty plea to all eight counts he was facing, relating to the two charges of forging documents and circulating fraudulent documents.

On March 24 this year, Yiannaki was placed under arrest for a short amount of time. The court issued a warrant for his arrest as he had failed to appear during a prior hearing.

Then on April 2, the defendant appeared in court with a new lawyer – the fourth one in a row. Changing his defence strategy, Yiannaki pleaded guilty only to the charge of circulating forged documents. He did not admit to tampering with the documents.

In another twist, on August 6 state prosecutors decided to stay the indictments relating to forgery of the documents. They did not drop the charges relating to circulating forged documents. This means that the court will not pass verdict on either the innocence or guilt of Yiannaki concerning the allegation he actually forged the documents. The matter is undecided, but legally it is now moot.

Later, on August 29, Yiannaki’s attorney entered a plea for a mitigated sentence.

Having admitted guilt to circulating forgeries, Yiannaki could theoretically face up to 10 years in prison. But because the trial was held before a district court, the court can only impose a maximum jail sentence of five years.