The controversial former volunteerism commissioner pled not guilty to eight charges of forging documents as he appeared in court on Thursday, with the judge ordering that his travel documents be handed over and set bail at €20,000.
The allegations, subsequent police investigation and social media firestorm surrounding the case led Yiannis Yiannaki to resign in 2021.
He faces eight charges which are centred on allegations that he forged his academic documents, following explosive reports that he grossly over overexaggerated his qualifications, such as a letter of recommendation and university diploma.
Apparent tampering with Yiannaki’s high school diploma, and his university degree, was discovered by the auditor-general after receiving an anonymous complaint about the issue.
But Yiannaki on Thursday did not admit to tampering with any of the documents, with the court setting his next appearance before the authorities for October 5.
He also said he did not forge a letter of recommendation before taking office at the Youth Board of Cyprus (Onek), where he was first appointed in 1996, securing a permanent job in 2007.
Following the hearing, SigmaLive reported Yiannaki’s lawyer as having argued that over 1,100 articles had been published on his client, claiming that there has been a trial by the media.
The investigations into his past led to pictures emerging of crudely doctored documents, such as his high school diploma. For modern Greek, the diploma reads “thirteen” for his subject score but the number next to it had been changed to 19.
Under the subject ‘English’, it was also written out as ‘thirteen’ but the number next to it said ‘19’. It appears that in both cases the 3 in the 13 had been crudely changed to a 9.
According to reports, Yiannaki’s net salary as commissioner came to €5,090 per month.
President Nicos Anastasiades appointed him commissioner in May 2013.
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