Cypriot authorities on Thursday arrested three employees from a high-tech company founded by a former Israeli intelligence officer, media outlets in Cyprus reported.
According to the local police, the three suspects, two men and a woman aged between 30 and 41, work at WiSpear, and were being held in connection with an alleged Israeli-owned "spy van" equipped with sophisticated surveillance technology capable of hacking communications, police said.
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Police in Cyprus confiscated the van in Larnaca on November 17.
The detainees are suspected of violating local privacy and personal information laws. Among the possible charges, according to local media, are fraudulent registration and conspiracy to commit a criminal act. The suspects were due in court on Friday.
WiSpear has strongly denied operating illegally and says it has never provided "intelligence systems" to Cypriot entities or provided "intelligence services."
The company also noted that the vehicle in question was used strictly for demonstration and field-testing purposes, and that its operations were coordinated in advance with local law enforcement officials.
The company's founder is Col. (res.) Tal Dilian, who in the past commanded the technological unit of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate. Dilian recently accused Cypriot authorities of targeting WiSpear because of internal political pressure.
The company is registered in Cyprus.
In a statement earlier this month, Dilian lashed out at "amateurish" police for prolonging a "witch hunt" against him.
Dilian said he was "embedded into a vicious circle of accusations" solely based on an interview given to Forbes, which ran a video story about the van in August and the technology it used.
"The interview has been altered and used to fuel rumors and innuendos about illegal activities, coming from unnamed sources and serving unclear motives," Dilian said.
Forbes said the multi-million-dollar equipment in the van can monitor electronic devices within a 500-yard radius, hack any phone and listen in on conversations regardless of the level of encryption.
