On Thursday, the Nicosia District Court sentenced former Commissioner for Volunteering Yiannis Yiannakis to three years in prison, after he admitted to three charges related to forgery, circulation of forged documents, and fraud against the state.

The Assize Court, presided over by Judge Nicole Grigoriou, imposed a total sentence of three years following his guilty plea to knowingly and deliberately circulating forged official documents.

More specifically, Yiannis Yiannakis was accused of presenting documents to the Republic of Cyprus as authentic, claiming they were issued by an American university and a Cypriot high school.

Yiannis Yiannakis admitted to presenting a forged high school diploma, bearing falsified Ministry of Education stamps, in order to secure a position at the Cyprus Youth Organization and later within the state apparatus. This fraud dates back to 1995, while the complaint was only filed in 2021.

The court acknowledged that the 61-year-old defendant had performed his duties impeccably and maintained a clean criminal record.

However, it stressed that this was not a careless mistake but a systematic deception lasting 30 years, from which he derived both financial and professional benefits.

The court imposed 18 months’ imprisonment for each of the three charges, with two of them running consecutively, resulting in a total sentence of three years.

Regarding the possibility of suspension, the judge rejected the defense’s request, stating: “The offenses committed are particularly serious and cannot be considered a mere careless error.”

The judgment further emphasized:

• The necessity of general deterrence for such actions.

• The deception was planned and deliberate, allowing Yiannis Yiannakis to build a decades-long career on forged qualifications.

• His promotions and appointments, including his secondment to the Presidential Palace until 2021, were based on falsified credentials.

The judge concluded that suspending the sentence would undermine the seriousness of such conduct and send the wrong message, effectively tolerating fraud, lack of meritocracy, and dishonesty if not promptly exposed.

She ordered that the prison sentences be executed immediately.

The court also criticized the authorities for their long-standing failure to detect the fraud, describing the case as exposing the “pathology of the state’s supervisory mechanisms.” “This case highlights in the most regrettable and disappointing way the chronic inability of the authorities to exercise effective control and follow merit-based, transparent recruitment and promotion procedures. However, this dysfunction cannot excuse the defendant’s unlawful acts or serve as a mitigating factor,” the judge noted.

Yiannis Yiannakis originally faced nine charges, but admitted guilt to three, while the remaining were withdrawn by the Attorney General at different stages.