Chapter 25
The Fall Man
Climbing the Social Ladder
George Papadopoulos was a hardworking individual who prided himself in starting at the bottom of his company and working his way up to CEO within 15 years. He was educated in the UK, qualified as an auditor in one of the Big Four firms and returned home to Cyprus to practice the audit profession.
In due course, he met Jane, the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, and they eventually got married and had two daughters, Laura and Maria.
He was then hired by his father-in-law as a junior manager in C.Case Limited, a factory that produced packing material. Marrying Jane had changed his life dramatically — he had gone from the son of a civil worker to the son-in-law of a wealthy businessman. George and his family lived in luxury, and the factory was the driving force behind their lifestyle.
He took out a number of significant loans to support his lifestyle and, because he was in a position to repay his debts, the banks did not hesitate to loan him more and more funds. His monthly loan repayments amounted to $10,000. For the ordinary person, this would be a lot, but for George it was just a fraction of his monthly income.
C.Case
C.Case Limited was established in the early 1930s to manufacture shipping cartons for cigarettes and any other packaging involving cartons. It became one of the largest carton manufacturers in Cyprus and employed 3,000 people in its three plant locations. The company had strong internal controls ...
