# The Cypriot billionaire's investigation

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Cypriot billionaire's investigation," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cypriot-billionaire-investigation/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The six-week private-intelligence job John Kiriakou describes as operational rather than analytic: a Cypriot billionaire wanted to know about the man engaged to his only daughter, and Kiriakou bribed a police captain in Cyprus, ran surveillance in London, and reported back that the fiancé was a thief with drug convictions.*

- **Client:** A Cypriot billionaire with one daughter
- **Duration:** About six weeks, full time
- **Methods:** Bribed police files; surveillance in London; Google Earth imagery
- **Findings:** Theft, a warehouse bought with her money, multiple drug arrests

The **Cypriot billionaire's investigation** is the case [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) uses to illustrate the operational side of [private intelligence](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/private-intelligence), as opposed to the analytic side.[1][2]

A Cypriot billionaire telephoned him. He had one daughter, who would inherit everything, and she was engaged to a Greek Cypriot man living in London whom he did not like and did not want anywhere near his money or his daughter. He wanted to know as much about him as possible. Kiriakou asked what his budget was and was given a number.[1][3]

## The work

He flew to Cyprus and bribed a police captain for the secret police files. He flew to London and ran surveillance on the man's building. It took about six weeks of full-time work.[3]

What he reported back was that the fiancé was stealing from the daughter; that he had used her money to buy a warehouse in London with an Armenian and a Turkish partner, which was losing money and which he had told her was for something else; that he was trying to buy a mansion in London in the expectation of marrying into the fortune; and that he had multiple drug arrests — caught smuggling drugs from Israel into Cyprus, and never prosecuted because a judge had been paid off, with the British authorities believing he was smuggling there too. Kiriakou supported the warehouse finding with satellite pictures from Google Earth.[4][5][6]

The old man went to his daughter and told her she was being scammed.[6]

Put to him that the story makes him sound like a high-speed private investigator, Kiriakou agrees: *"that's really what it comes down to."*[7]

## See also

- [Private Intelligence](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/private-intelligence)
- [The Romanian silver mine](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/romanian-silver-mine)
- [The Oman oil lease](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/oman-oil-lease)
- [Black Cube](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/black-cube)

## Sources

1. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 18:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1118s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
2. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 52:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=3165s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
3. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 19:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1149s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
4. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 19:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1180s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
5. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 20:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1210s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
6. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 20:42. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1242s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/
7. The Most Secret CIA Unit Ever (2026-05-24), at 24:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQKwm0KKqnM&t=1458s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-24-john-kiriakou-podcast-the-most-secret-cia-unit-ever/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cypriot-billionaire-investigation/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt