Claim: Cypriot President's Family Withdrew Millions Before Depositor Cash Grab

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades denies reports that a company owned by his family withdrew tens of millions of dollars before the government decided to seize up to 62.5% of uninsured Cypriot bank depositor monies as part of a $13 billion Eurozone bailout.

“The attempt to defame companies or people linked to my family… is nothing but an attempt to distract people from the liability of those who led the country to a state of bankruptcy,” said Anastasiades.

The allegations were published in the Cypriot newspaper Haravgi. According to EnetEnglish:

The newspaper, which is affiliated to the communist-rooted AKEL party, reports that three days before the Eurogroup meeting the company took five promissory notes worth €21m from Laiki Bank and transferred the money to London.

Anastasiades says an investigative committee will examine the claim alongside others involving the Cypriot economic meltdown.