The Nicosia Assize Court on Friday imposed an immediate five-year prison term on 75-year-old Turkish-Jewish defendant Simon Mistriel Aykut, who pleaded guilty to 40 charges of usurping Greek Cypriot properties in the north.
According to the indictment, all charges fall under article 303A of the Criminal Code, which provides that a person who, with intent to defraud, conducts transactions involving immovable property belonging to another commits a felony punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment.
Authorities said Aykut, who holds Israeli, Portuguese and Turkish citizenship, operated in the occupied areas in land development, construction and real-estate sales. He participated in the so-called Afik group and, through a purported legal entity registered with the illegal authorities of the pseudo-state, carried out actions between 2014 and 2024 to construct and sell properties built on plots belonging to displaced Greek Cypriots. None of the lawful owners consented to the developments.
Investigators estimate that the unlawfully exploited plots cover roughly 400,000 square metres with an aggregate value of about 40 million euros. The charges to which Aykut pleaded guilty relate to the Caesar Cliff, Caesar Resort, Caesar Beach, Caesar Bay, Caesar Breeze and Caesar Blue tourist complexes, erected without consent in the occupied villages of Agios Amvrosios in Kyrenia, and Trikomo, Gastria and Akanthou in Famagusta.
Aykut was arrested on 7 June 2024 when he attempted to cross by car at the Deryneia checkpoint. A warrant for his arrest had been issued the previous day. He has remained on remand at the Central Prisons since his detention.