In January 2025, 16 uncovered cheques were issued in Cyprus for a total of €42,062.
This was announced by the Central Bank of Cyprus on Tuesday 18th February.
They were issued by 3 companies and 7 individuals. The Central Bank said that all the cheques had been added to the preliminary list of the Central Information Repository (CIR) maintained by the financial institution. Interestingly, in the corresponding month of 2024, 45 forged cheques were recorded for a total amount of €69,647, while the total number of persons registered on the CIR's provisional list was 16 (10 companies and 6 individuals).
The Central Bank of Cyprus also pointed out that in January 2025 the number of persons registered on the CIR was 6 (2 legal entities, 2 natural persons and 2 natural persons controlling legal entities). For the whole of 2024, 202 persons were registered in the CIR, of which 77 were legal entities, 32 natural persons and 93 natural persons controlling legal entities.
From January 2020 to January 2025, a total of more than one thousand persons were registered in the CIR.Finally, more than 2,000 bad cheques worth more than €6 million were issued in Cyprus in 5 years.
The Central Bank of Cyprus stresses that it is closely monitoring the situation and urges individuals and businesses to exercise financial prudence so as not to contribute to this growing problem.