Newsroom
Cyprus Police have landed on a tortuous case after it was revealed that a recent abduction of the island’s infamous “Little Hacker” allegedly came to expose a fake arrest in the buffer zone and a real plot against a prominent businessman who has been in the crosshairs of law enforcement for years.
Last week police said they arrested three men in Nicosia aged 42, 50, and 35, after a 24-year-old male filed a complaint saying the suspects had attempted to extort money from him.
The complainant, known as the Little Hacker who served time in a US federal prison after showing remorse for cyber crimes, said he was driving in Nicosia on Monday night, October 24, with his mother and his girlfriend as passengers, when a car with four men inside pulled in front of him outside a fast-food restaurant.
During the incident, knives were drawn on both sides, with Little Hacker’s mother trying to break up the fight and the perpetrators managing to take off after grabbing cash from the woman’s purse.
Prior to their arrest, three men walked into a police station where they accused the young man of threatening them with a knife.
But the story got a lot more complicated after the young man told police that previously, after returning from America, he was attacked at a night club in Limassol where later unknown perpetrators also fired gunshots outside his residence.
Little Hacker pays for protection after incident
According to Reporter, the young man was concerned about his safety and had sought protection through an acquaintance. The meeting reportedly took place at the residence of one of the suspects, with one other suspect being present and the 24-year-old saying he ended up paying cash to one of them.
But while he was at the meeting, it was decided they would all go hunting in the buffer zone, where the young man was fooled into believing Turkish Cypriot police had arrested them on gun possession charges and would let them go in exchange for money.
After the young man and one of the Greek Cypriot suspects were told to kneel down by the two cops, who later turned out to be neither Turkish Cypriots nor police officers but spoke English and Turkish, it was proposed that Little Hacker should transfer a specific amount of Bitcoin money in order to walk away while the other Greek Cypriot would also pitch in with a smaller amount.
Young man escapes after getting wind of setup
The young man used a phone given by one of the people who wore T-shirts reading “Polis” (Turkish for “police”) and carried out a transfer, while later he was taken to a place in Nicosia where he was supposed to be held until the transaction cleared and the money would be converted into cash to be delivered to the police officers.
According to Reporter, Little Hacker got wind of the setup and asked to change locations so he could move from the home of one suspect to the residence of the other. When he got there he saw his own vehicle parked outside but the keys had been left with the men in the buffer zone as collateral.
He then asked to be allowed to go home in Limassol but he was told he would need to stay in Nicosia until the cash would be delivered.
But Little Hacker says he finally managed to cancel the transaction and he slipped out of the residence after his captor fell asleep, with the young man going to a nearby home where neighbors called the police and a tow truck.
Two of the three suspects were known to police, according to local media, while the young man also told investigators he has been receiving threats ever since he managed to escape.
Suspects allegedly wanted to take Alexoui out
But the story got even more complicated after Little Hacker told police he had been privy to a conversation where criminals had asked him to infiltrative the network of Nicosia businessman Alexis “Alexoui” Mavromichalis.
According to the young man, two of the suspects had asked Little Hacker, who was not known to belong to any suspected criminal networks, to work on projects for Mavromichalis so that one day he could get close and text Alexoui’s location si the suspects could come and take him out.
Mavromichalis was acquitted of attempted murder charges in November 2021 after a long pre-trial detention, with a court unanimously dismissing all evidence against him where one scandal after the other exposed the police for pursuing unfair prosecution.
Reporter confirmed that Mavromichalis, who has survived attempts on his life in the past, had some unresolved differences with two of the suspects, with police now also taking into account information from Little Hacker, who says he heard one of the detained men talk about hidden firearms in the buffer zone.
The three suspects are facing multiple charges including abduction, false pretences to acquire illegal gains, theft, and knife possession.
