Cyprus authorities have detained three individuals,including a police officer, as part of an investigation into an allegedcriminal organization linked to money laundering, tax evasion, and extortiontargeting businesses such as forex firms.Detentions and Alleged Criminal ActivityAccording to local media outlet SigmaLive as translated to English, the Nicosia District Court issued detention orders for threesuspects following police operations in Limassol. Two individuals, aged 49 and50, will remain in custody for seven days, while a 45-year-old police officerwill be held for eight days.Investigators told the court the group may have ties to aperson wanted by Greek authorities in cases involving cigarette and fuelsmuggling. You may also like: CySEC Pulls Certification Registers as Scammers Exploit Licensing DetailsPolice are examining claims that the network offered “protection”services to businesses, including forex companies. Authorities are also reviewing possible links between thegroup and recent criminal acts, including arson and shooting incidents, the publication reported.The investigation focuses on the police officer’s financialactivity between 2020 and 2026. After obtaining court orders, authoritiesidentified bank transactions that do not match his declared income. They alsofound luxury vehicles with no clear financing records.Police are analyzing the officer’s travel history, whichshows regular trips to Greece, mainly to Athens and Thessaloniki, approximatelyevery two months. Some airline tickets were reportedly purchased with cash.Financial Investigation and Seized AssetsThe two other suspects face investigation for allegedparticipation in the same criminal organization and for money laundering.Authorities identified funds in bank accounts and four luxury vehicles thatappear inconsistent with their income. Around €200,000 in assets linked to thepair has been frozen.During the Limassol operations, police seized propertyvalued at over €420,000, including five luxury vehicles and other items fromthe suspects’ residences. The suspects did not object to their detentionorders.Last year there was mounting scrutiny on the forexsector in Cyprus, but no widely reported police-style raids comparable to the organized crime operation targeting businesses with alleged “protection”schemes.2025: Heavy Supervision, Allegations, but Not RaidsCySEC’s own 2025 review shows it ran around 600 inspectionson Cyprus Investment Firms, imposed roughly €2.3 million in fines that year,and suspended or withdrew four CIF licences. Several cases were referred topolice, the Attorney General and the AML unit. These were supervisory andenforcement measures rather than on-the-ground crackdowns involving arrests andasset seizures at forex offices.In parallel, Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos publicly alleged links between some Cyprus-based forex firms and Latin American drug cartels last year,claiming Cyprus risked becoming part of a money-laundering network. CySEC responded that it was collecting data and cooperatingwith domestic and international authorities to decide whether a furtherinvestigation was needed, and stressed that it enforces EU rules and appliessanctions for breaches.Interestingly, scammers have gone as far as hijacking public review platforms like TrustPilot and Google Business to pose as CySEC officials,tricking investors into paying bogus “recovery” fees. It prompted the regulatorto warn that it never contacts individuals to request money and to roll outsocial media monitoring tools that track multi‑language posts in real time soit can quickly remove fake content and clamp down on these impersonationschemes. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.