Deported Briton Says Cyprus Competitors Shopped Him

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-news.com, Cyprus

21 August 2001

Graham Cockcroft, a British businessman who started a company in Cyprus selling homes powered 100% by solar energy, was deported without trial on Friday morning just hours before his appeal against deportation was due to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Reporting on the case, the Cyprus Sunday Mail says that Mr Cockcroft was accused of buying Greek Cypriot land in the Turkish-occupied north, something he denies. He says he was refused permission to return to his apartment and pack his belongings, arrange a home for his dog, or settle his business affairs.

“I feel absolutely raped. Everything I own is in Cyprus -- my apartment, my company, my car and my dog. I have never done any business in the north. I have never sold holidays, mobile homes or land.” he told the newspaper.

Two years ago he began testing the potential market for solar-powered homes, and moved to Cyprus a year ago to start the businesses with two Cypriot partners. But in July the Immigration Department told him to make arrangements to leave the country immediately.

Submerged in enquiries from potential customers, Mr Cockcroft foolishly ignored the letter - until he was arrested last Monday and held at Limassol police station until being deported.

In court on Friday, the state prosecutor refused to state the reason for his arrest in court on Friday, simply saying that his departure was “in the national interest”. Cockcroft says he has visited the north only three times - twice out of personal interest and once because a British firm, considering a £100 million investment in the south, asked him to visit a coastal site in the north for background information.

Cockroft says he has been shopped by local contractors who have lost work to him, and says they used contacts at the Immigration Department to get him deported because he has been successful.

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