Police declare Sandy affair allegations false and fabricated after investigation

Cyprus Police have concluded that all allegations at the centre of the Sandy affair are false and fabricated, with Police Chief Themistos Arnaoutis announcing that exhaustive investigations found no evidence to support any of the claimed offences. The findings were announced at a press conference on Wednesday by Arnaoutis, with Police Spokesperson Vyron Vyronos presenting the detailed results of the investigation.

Also present were Deputy Police Chief Panikos Stavrou and Assistant Chief for Crime Combating Marios Agiotis. The Sandy affair centres on allegations made by investigative journalist Makarios Drousiotis, involving serious criminal offences, surveillance, interference in state institutions and matters relating to the justice system. The allegations concerned public figures and officials and generated significant public debate. In the course of the investigation, Drousiotis gave police a written statement and submitted electronic material.

Arnaoutis said the conclusion was the result of exhaustive investigation and was clear: no evidence had emerged to support the alleged offences against any persons. Forensic examinations had demonstrated that communications presented as genuine did not exist. Key claims had been checked against official records and disproved. He said the narrative was false and fabricated, and that police had been instructed to investigate possible criminal offences relating to the creation of the messages as well as to related posts.

Vyronos said Sandy admitted the messages were a product of her imagination and showed investigators how they were constructed. He said the allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a judge was not substantiated, nor was the claim regarding the birth of a child. Sandy also stated in testimony that she had never travelled to Nice, and the claim regarding Germany was also disproved. During the period she was alleged to have been abroad, Sandy was working at a specific company in Cyprus.

According to Philenews sources, police had sought assistance from Europol and the FBI in the course of the investigation. Europol has transmitted its position regarding evidence submitted by the Cypriot authorities, covering dozens of SMS messages and a USB drive. The FBI report has also been in investigators’ hands for several days; FBI experts travelled to Cyprus and examined the investigative team’s methods as well as Sandy’s profile. The full findings are expected to address each allegation as it emerged from the investigation by the police’s special investigative unit.

According to Philenews reporting, the investigation confirmed none of the allegations made; on the contrary, all were disproved either through testimony, online investigation, or both.