NICOSIA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday that he knew the people who are behind a smear campaign that seeks to connect the law firm bearing his name with money laundering activities.
However, he refused to name the instigators behind a report linking him and his former law firm with the so-called Troika Laundromat and warned that he was running out of patience.
"I know full well who directs them and who the authors are. I don't want to say anything beyond this. I just want to warn that patience has its limits," Anastasiades said during an interview with a local television station.
The government spokesman said a few days ago that the president knew who wrote the reports against him, adding that "they came from a Cypriot hand."
"I made no reference to any name, any incident. I am simply saying it would be good for them to be very careful if they think they will hurt Nicos Anastasiades," he said.
Anastasiades also dismissed the report as being fabricated, saying that it tried to link lawfully operating companies that were and are indeed clients of his former firm with other companies that never had any connection with his office, which had been involved in money laundering.
"They tried to attach them to us to arrive to the conclusion that the law office is involved in money laundering with a transaction worth 229 million or 320 million euros," he said.
He was referring to an Aug. 14 report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) implying a link between Anastasiades and his law firm with the Troika Laundromat, a network of shell companies that operated from 2006 to 2013.
Anastasiades remained co-owner of the law firm he established in the 1970s until Feb. 2013, when he was elected to the post of president. His two daughters currently run the office.
The reports did not suggest that Anastasiades and his law firm were involved in illegal actions or that he and his employees broke any law or committed any crime.
MOKAS, the branch of the Cypriot police specialized in combating money laundering, has announced that the case is under investigation. Enditem
