Millionaire playboy at centre of probe

In the inner office of his headquarters in Nicosia, leather-jacketed Christos Tornarides is surrounded by huge TV screens displaying the latest stock prices around the world.

In the outer office, fitted with mahogany cabinets displaying packets of 200 cigarettes, secretaries chain-smoke and Mr Tornarides's pet rottweiler, Tara, sits in her jewelled collar.

This is as far as the Evening Standard was allowed when we tried to ask him about his activities. "He's not interested in talking to you," said an aide.

At 34, the millionaire grandson of one of the island's most formidable politicians owns a racehorse, a football club and a penthouse. He is rarely seen in public without his East European model girlfriend, Romana.

In the three years that British tobacco firms have started exporting billions of cigarettes into Cyprus, Mr Tornarides has become an exceedingly rich man. The current investigation into smuggling calls into question exactly how he came by his millions, his controlling share in local football side Olympic, and entry to the island's premier financial institution, Severis and Athenietes. Indeed, his cigarette empire is something of a mystery.

Mr Tornarides claims to be Imperial Tobacco's and Gallaher's distributor for the Middle East and has based most of his application to join the island's stock exchange on his relationship with them.

However, in a statement to the Evening Standard, Imperial states it has never heard of Mr Tornarides and has "never knowingly had any dealings", with him. Gallaher said: "We have no knowledge of him."

Mr Tornarides also claims to own a British firm, Raquel Trading Ltd - named after a cigarette he is trying to market - although Companies House has no record of this.

When the investigation into the Marina seizure was announced, Mr Tornarides denied any knowledge of the contraband cargo. The businessman claimed to be the victim of a cartel of journalists who were spreading false stories about him.

His return to Cyprus after years of working in food distribution in Eastern Europe came at the same time as cigarette manufacturers began sending huge amounts of cigarettes there.

He started Manaco Trading limited in 1995, helping tobacco giant RJ Reynolds to build a base in the Middle East. In 1998, he claims he began dealing with Imperial, and says he has the rights to sell Regals and Superkings in Eastern Europe and the Middle East - which until then had been highly unprofitable markets.

When quizzed about the smuggling investigation by a Cypriot magazine he admitted cigarettes that passed through his hands might end up being smuggled, glibly likening it to the drugs trade.

"We buy and sell cigarettes under lawful procedures," he said. "When these cigarettes leave my hands and go to second or third parties they could end up with people who sell them illegally. This doesn't only happen with us but with big companies also.

"It is like if you have a field and you sell it to someone who plants drugs and the police catch that person. You, of course, have no blame."

Mr Tornarides was born into a well-known Cypriot family, ruled over by the island's former attorney general of 32 years, his grandfather Kritonos Tornarides. His father, George, is renowned throughout Cyprus as the founder of the Museum of Palaeontology and the Marine Life Museum, and in addition owns one of the greatest collections of sea shells in the world.

He studied law at the University of Athens, where he claims he set up his first company, importing toys. He said: "I started from nothing. In Romania I used to distribute the products to the shops myself; that is why I am where I am today. You have to take advantage of opportunities as they arise."