Tag: Χριστόφορο Καραγιαννά

Tent protest aims to shame Cyprus in dispute with developers

BRITISH home buyer Conor O’Dwyer marked his 39th birthday yesterday far away from his wife and children as he continued his indefinite protest outside the Cyprus High Commission in London.

O’Dwyer began his protest camping outside the Cypriot diplomatic mission this month because August marks two years since he was due to move his family to Cyprus, and August marks the anniversary of when the Minister of the Interior told the media he was looking into the unlawful selling of O’Dwyer’s house.

In two years, no progress has been made on O’Dwyer’s case outlined on his website www.lyingbuilder.com, and he has now set up a new site www.ShameOnCyprus.com, which will focus initially on his protest in London.

“I am still getting the same rhetoric that I was getting two years ago,” O’Dwyer said yesterday. ‘That’s why I’m protesting. I’m not going anywhere until they drag this case to court and take the developers off to jail. I deserve my day in court.”

O’Dwyer spent a week in Larnaca hospital last January after he was beaten up in Frenaros when he went to take pictures of the house he had bought and over which he later came into dispute with the developers.

They have been charged by police in connection with the attack on O’Dwyer in Frenaros, but the case has yet to reach the courts.

He says the developers unilaterally cancelled his contract and kept his money, some £75,000 sterling, because he had pulled them up over what he saw as a misrepresentation of their deal. That case is also pending at court. The developers have accused O’Dwyer of allegedly masterminding a plan to extort a newer more expensive property, and exorbitant damages from the company.

“My case is undeniable,” said O’Dwyer who, said that if anyone bothered to look at it, it could be solved in an afternoon. “It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out. This whole thing stinks.”

O’Dwyer did receive a visit from an official at the Cyprus High Commission on Friday but the official only gave him “the same old story”, he said. A new High Commissioner is due to be in place next week, whom O’Dwyer hopes might listen to him.

Since the indefinite protest began, O’Dwyer has been sleeping in a tent and spends his day updating his new website and talking to passers-by, including, he said, potential British property buyers for Cyprus. “A few have now been put off buying in Cyprus when they heard what happened to me,” he said. “I’m not going to stay quiet any more and watch other people lose their savings. I’m sleeping in a tent. That’s what I got for my £75,000. I’ve lost my home but I’m not moving from here until I let everyone know what a corrupt society Cyprus is.”

By Jean Christou – Cyprus Mail
Published on August 15, 2008

London property protest

A GROUP of British expats frustrated with the judicial system in Cyprus protested at Alexandra Palace London on Sunday where President Demetris Christofias was addressing a gathering of UK-based Cypriots.

The protest was led by Conor O’Dwyer, 38, from Surrey who bought a house off plan in Cyprus in 2005 and has since entered in to a lengthy legal battle with the developers.

Unable so far to receive justice in Cyprus, O’Dwyer decided to take his protest to London during Christofias’ visit at the weekend. Holding placards calling for justice and an end to corruption, the protestors camped out in front of the venue.

O’Dwyer was joined by the relatives of expats in Cyprus who are also experiencing legal difficulties over properties they have purchased on the island. Problems include non issuing of title deeds, structural faults, illegal building, or developers extorting immovable property tax and transfer fees, they say.

O’Dwyer said yesterday the protest went very well.

“We didn’t see the President ourselves but hundreds of guests came past our protest stand and accepted leaflets,” he said. “Some were shocked at the severity of the cases represented but few were surprised with problems like the issuing of title deeds as their own families had fallen victim to this trap.”

He said the protestors were highlighting a broad range of issues and said it would be good to have the future support of the London Greek Cypriot community.

“Yesterday [Sunday] was a nice introduction,” he said.

O’Dwyer was badly beaten in Frenaros in January this year after taking photographs outside the house he owns in the village. The developers who sold him the property, and with whom he is engaged in a legal dispute, were later arrested and charged with assault. O’Dwyer, who details his entire case on the website lyingbuilder.com and on YouTube, spent over a week in Larnaca hospital.

By: Jean Christou Published: Tuesday 20th May 2008
To see comments from British expats read this article in the Cyprus Property News
Copyright © Cyprus Property News

Property protest to greet Christofias

British ex pats frustrated with an inept judicial system in Cyprus are to protest at Alexandra Palace London on May 18 where President Demetris Christofias is due to address a gathering of the Cypriot community.

A statement from the organisers said problems suffered by property victims range from the non issuing of title deeds, structural faults, illegal building and developers extorting immovable property tax and transfer fees.

Many of the victims are currently resident in Cyprus but will be represented at the protest by their offspring, the statement said.

Fronting the protest is Conor O’Dwyer, 38, from Surrey who bought a house off plan in Cyprus in 2005 and has since entered in to a lengthy legal battle.

O’Dwyer said: “Crooked Developers and Lawyers in Cyprus act with impunity. My developer has kept all my money and managed to sell my house to another family despite my contract being logged in the Lands Registry. I have been assaulted by the developers twice; the last was in January 2008 when I spent six days in hospital. Every month my lawyer chases the authorities for a criminal investigation into the reselling of my house and every month it’s the same. It’s stuck at the local level” .

By Jean Christou
(archive article – May 10, 2008)
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Property groups team up to battle for buyers’ rights

THE CYPRUS Land and Property Owners’ Association (KSIA) and the Cyprus Property Action Group (CPAG) have teamed up to explore ways of fighitng for the rights of property buyers in Cyprus.

KSIA is affiliated to the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) and is a long-standing member of the International Union of Property Owners.

CPAG was only established in May last year, but has already attracted thousands of dissatisfied foreign buyers.

Teaming up with KSIA, which has strong contacts with the government, parliament, local authorities and various other bodies in the property field, will help foreign buyers better push for their rights, CPAG said in a statement yesterday.

The two groups said they plan to make 2008 “a year of intense lobbying” on property issues.

The statement said the two groups met in Peyia recently and toured the area “to view the shocking illegal and other unsuitable developments taking place in the area, even in places like ravines and drainage courses”, CPAG said.

George Strovolides, President of KSIA, said that the two groups had an interest in resolving the common problems faced by their members.

He said one of the biggest problems faced by property buyers of all nationalities in Cyprus was the isuse of title deeds.

Foreign buyers can wait years or even in cases decades to receive their title deeds from peopery developers.

“In Cyprus, buyers can pay in full and then not own their homes, sometimes for many years, as developers raise mortgages using land on which these very homes stand,” said Strovolides.

“Given the risk in this situation, especially in the current economic climate, something needs to be done to turn this current situation around.”
Denis O’Hare of CPAG added: “We don’t mind developers taking their own business risks, this is how the world works. However, we do strongly object when they are taking risks with our homes, especially as we have already paid for them in full. We think this situation is scandalous and needs addressing by the government right now.”

Meanwhile, in the UK, British property buyer Conor O’Dwyer, whose developers were arrested and charged with allegedly beating him up in January this year, will this weekend continue his picketing of UK property trade fairs to highlight his case and those of other Britons facing problems in Cyprus. O’Dwyer spent a week in Larnaca hospital.

This weekend, he and his wide will publicise their situation by handing out leaflets outside the property show “A Place in the Sun Live” at the ExCel centre in London’s Docklands. It is the second time the couple has picketed a property fair in the UK in as many months.

O’Dwyer, whose case is fully detailed on the website lyingbuilder.com, is also planning a demonstration outside the Cyprus High Commission in London in June.

“Problems suffered by victims range from the non issuing of title deeds, structural faults, illegal building and developers extorting immovable property tax and transfer fees.  Many victims are resident in Cyprus but will be represented by their offspring who may inherit the problems drawn up by unscrupulous lawyers,” said O’ Dwyer.
“In my particular horror, the Minister of Interior told the media ‘an Investigating Officer has already been appointed’. That was in August 2007!  Since then I’ve been brutally beaten for just looking at my house from the roadside in Frenaros.  Every month, my lawyer Yiannos Georgiades chases the authorities for a criminal investigation into the reselling of my house and every month it’s the same.  It’s stuck at the local level.”

By Jean Christou Published on April 26, 2008

Property victim to stage UK protest

BRITISH home buyer Conor O’Dwyer will begin a three-day protest outside one Britain’s biggest property fairs in a move that could seriously damage the lucrative industry in Cyprus.

O’Dwyer, 38, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that he and his wife would protest outside The Homebuyer & Property Investor Show at ExCeL London, which begins today and runs until Sunday. They will distribute leaflets warning people of the pitfalls of buying a home in Cyprus, he said.

The fair usually attracts around 15,000 prospective home buyers and numerous Cypriot developers will be represented among the 250 stands.

“I said if my recent trip to Cyprus didn’t bear any fruit that I planned to stage a protest,” O’Dwyer said. “There will be many estate agents there and all of the property magazines”.

protest leaflet
protest leaflet

In his leaflet O’Dwyer says Cyprus is a beautiful country with lovely people but is being spoilt by greedy developers and unscrupulous lawyers. He outlines the basics of the ongoing case he has with a Cypriot development company, which are detailed in full on his website lyingbuilder.com and on YouTube.

The British ex-soldier spent a week in Larnaca hospital in January after he was beaten up in Frenaros when he went to take pictures of the house he had bought and over which later came into dispute with the developers.

He says they unilaterally cancelled his contract and kept his money, some £75,000 sterling because he had pulled them up over what he saw as a violation of the terms of the contract. The case is pending at court. The developers have accused O’Dwyer of allegedly masterminding a plan to extort a newer, more expensive property, and exorbitant damages from the company.

They have, however, been charged by police in connection with the attack on O’Dwyer in Frenaros, but the case has yet to reach the courts. “My case has been treated disgustingly by the CID in Paralimni,” O’Dwyer said yesterday. “They charged them with the lesser crime of actual bodily harm when it was clearly grievous bodily harm because I spent six days in hospital.”

O’Dwyer said he has been left with little choice now other than protesting in the UK as he has managed to get nowhere towards solving his case in Cyprus over the past three years.

He and dozens of other buyers, stung by developers in Cyprus, are also planning a later demonstration outside the Cypriot High Commission in London, possibly during a visit there by new President Demetris Christofias who has been invited to London by Downing Street.

In a written statement issued later yesterday, O’Dwyer said he had been “saddened by the outrageous lack of action taken by the Cypriot authorities” in both the assault case and the property dispute.

“Throughout the case, the authorities have reacted indifferently and unsympathetically,” he said.

“This protest outside The Homebuyer & Property Investor Show in London will be the first of many.”

By Jean Christou
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Developers charged over assault on Briton

THE TWO Paralimni property developers at the centre of a police investigation involving an alleged assault on a British home buyer have been charged with bodily harm and malicious damage to personal property, police said yesterday.

Ayia Napa police chief George Economou said the father and son were charged “a few days ago”.

“They were charged with bodily harm and with causing malicious damage to his camera,” said Economou.

The Ayia Napa police chief could not say when the case would reach the courts. “That’s not up to us,” he said. “It’s up to the courts”.

Economou said it could take anything from a month to two months or longer.

The two men were arrested last month and remanded for four days by the Paralimni court for the alleged assault on British buyer Conor O’Dwyer, but then released without charge while police continued their investigations.

These culminated in the charges that have now been filed.

O’Dwyer, 38, spent a week in Larnaca hospital last month after he was beaten up in Frenaros when he went to take pictures of a house he had bought and over which he later came into dispute with the developers. He said they unilaterally cancelled his contract and kept his money, some £75,000 sterling, because he had pulled them up over what he saw as a violation of the terms of the contract. The case is pending at court.

O’Dwyer has widely publicised the details of his dispute with the developers on YouTube and on the website lyingbuilder.com.
In a public statement recently, the developers accused O’Dwyer of allegedly masterminding a plan to extort a newer, more expensive property, and exorbitant damages from the company.

But the company had “failed to adhere to his blackmail requests”.

O’Dwyer says he attempted several times to make the payment because he decided to keep the house despite the differences between the original plan and the reality, but the developers refused to take the due payment, deciding, O’ Dwyer said, that he was giving them too much hassle over the terms of the contract.

They in turn accused him of violating the terms of the contract and said in a letter posted on O’Dwyer’s website that they would be keeping all money paid so far for damages.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Cyprus property developers claim expat tried blackmail

THE PARALIMNI Cyprus property developers at the centre of a police assault investigation involving a British home buyer yesterday countered the allegation by accusing him of blackmail.

Conor O’Dwyer, 38, spent six days in Larnaca hospital last week after being allegedly assaulted by the father and son developers, who were later arrested and held in police custody for four days.

They were released on Monday pending further investigations.

It was the second time in less than two years that the two men had been arrested for allegedly assaulting O’Dwyer. The earlier charges were dropped.

O’Dwyer has widely publicised the details of his property dispute with the developers on YouTube and on the website lyingbuilder.com.

The dispute centres on the cancellation of his contract by the property developers some half way through payment, even though the house in Frenaros was already registered in his name at the land registry.

O’Dwyer had complained because he said the developers were not sticking to the original plans he was paying for. They then cancelled the contact accusing him of not paying the next instalment. The developers then sold the house to someone else, telling O’ Dwyer they were keeping his £75,000 sterling for damages.

Yesterday on their website, Karayiannas Developers and Constructors said O’Dwyer’s claims that they had misled him into purchasing the property were defamatory.

Under a link entitled “The Karayiannas saga… To find out more about the true events…“, a statement from the developers claimed that O’Dwyer had masterminded a plan to extort a newer more expensive property and exorbitant damages from the company.

Karayiannas said the British buyer had ignored reminders to pay the next instalment for the property, so they cancelled the contract as a last resort.

“After the cancellation of the contract, Mr. O’Dwyer set his plan in motion seeking for his revenge. A revenge originating from the fact that the value of the house he would have bought increased due to the current value housing boom,” said the statement.

The alleged plan involved O’Dwyer secretly taping a conversation with Marios Karayiannas and later using that tape recording as a threat to blackmail the company for “a private villa worth £400,000 and £100,000 in cash“, failing which he would create a website “defaming the company in such ways as to cause it great financial losses“.

“He was in plain and simple words blackmailing his way into a luxury villa and cash in hand,” the statement said.

But the company had “failed to adhere to his blackmail requests“.

O’Dwyer says he repeatedly attempted to make the contested payment, having decided to keep the house despite the differences between the original plan and the finished product, but claims Karayiannas refused to take the due payment, deciding, O’ Dwyer said, that he was giving them too much hassle over the terms of the contract.

After Karayiannas sent him a letter in March 2006 cancelling the contract, they kept refusing the payment. The final time O’Dwyer tried to send payment was through a court server, he said.

The same month Karayiannas’ lawyers sent him a letter – published on his website – saying: “As you committed essential breaches of your contract, you are hereby notified that they [Karayiannas] cancel the said agreement and retain the money already paid, towards damages.”

Another letter a month later said: “Even if for any reason in the end of the day it is decided that they [Karayianas] had no legal ground to cancel it due to your behaviour, they do not want you on their property and they hereby notify you that they are not willing to complete the house and deliver it to you.”

“The deal is over and they will never ever deliver to you your house.”

On Tuesday evening, O’Dwyer gave a full statement to police about the January 14 incident in Frenaros, which saw the Briton end up in hospital.

Copyright © Cyprus Property News