Master of deception suspect has rich history

The man who was arrested on credit card fraud charges and escaped from a mental hospital this week has been remanded in custody for eight days, with police describing him a master of deception.

Police re-arrested a 45-year-old man on Wednesday on credit card fraud charges following his escape from Nicosia’s Athalassa Psychiatric Hospital. He was taken there from Limassol for evaluation but managed to deceive staff and walked out free after doctors did not find any reason to keep him.

According to daily Politis, the suspect had managed to escape form a courtroom back in 2013, when he was facing multiple charges including forgery, burglary, and bouncing cheques.

The man even pretended to be a well known godfather, Larnaca businessman Antonis Fanieros who died in 2017. According to sources, the suspect had managed to stay at a luxury hotel in Limassol for an entire month, racking up his unpaid bill to €6500.

In his latest arrest, the suspect is being accused of defrauding a commercial store by canceling purchases and falsely crediting his account.

He also pretended to have a disability in another case, asking store employees to transfer goods to a location while managing to use a credit card with insufficient funds. When store managers realised the credit card numbers he had given them were problematic, he was nowhere to be found.

Knews understands the suspect collapsed on the floor when the judge ordered him in remanded custody for eight days. The 44-year-old asked to see a doctor, but when he was taken to hospital and doctors found nothing wrong with him, he was taken straight to a detention facility.