The anti-corruption authority is to begin a “detailed examination” of a video which alleged campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates which was widely shared on social media, transparency commissioner Harris Poyiadjis said on Monday.

He told the Cyprus News Agency that the authority’s members were due to meet on Monday morning to examine the video “minute by minute”.

“We are not acting hastily, but we are not remaining inactive,” he said, adding that the matter has been “under continuous examination” since it gained traction on social media last week.

However, he said, no investigation into the matter will be launched by the authority at this stage, as the legal service has launched its own investigation, and the law prohibits parallel investigations being launched into the same subject by multiple authorities. 

He said that as such, following Monday’s examination of the video, he would contact the legal service, and that if there are elements which the anti-corruption authority deems worthy of investigation but that the legal service does not, the anti-corruption authority may then launch investigations into those elements.

The video first appeared on social media platform X on Thursday, having been shared by an account using the handle “EmilyTanalyst” and the name “Emily Thompson”.

It features close associates of Christodoulides, his chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous and former minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, appearing to explain how they used and intended to continue to use cash donations to circumvent election campaign finance laws.

Both men also appeared to say that donations to Christodoulides by oligarchs under threat of appearing on international sanctions list would lead to him defending and assisting them to avoid sanctions from the European Union.

Construction company Cyfield’s chief executive officer Giorgos Chrysochos, meanwhile, appeared to say that he pays €250,000 per year for his access to the government.

The social media account was registered in 2022 and according to information available on the platform is based in the United Kingdom.