There are around 12,000 shell companies that are registered in Cyprus. These companies are in paperwork only and have no physical presence in the country.
In a classified report conducted by accounting firm Deloitte in March -April 2013, the firm found that the number of suspicious financial transactions was 30 times the number that officials in Cyprus reported.
(More examples of laundering and shell companies.)
Source: Andrew Rettman, “Cyprus gets €2bn despite money laundering concerns,” EUObserver, May 14, 2013.