An enormous leak of confidential Cypriot government documents obtained by Al Jazeera’s investigative unit called The Cyprus Papers reveals that dozens of high-level officials and their families bought so-called “golden passports” from Cyprus between late 2017 and late 2019.
Among those who bought the passports, a minimum investment of $ 2.5 million each, were elected politicians from various countries, board members of state-owned companies and the brother of a former Lebanese prime minister.
These officials, known as politically exposed persons (PEPs), are internationally recognized as a category of individuals who are at higher risk of corruption because they or their family members hold some form of government position.
The revelation comes a day after the Al Jazeera Investigating Unit revealed that Cyprus sold passports to convicted criminals and refugees.
Following that news on Sunday, the Cypriot Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement saying it is monitoring the published information, adding that it has already made substantial changes to the investment program in recent years.
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One of the people who bought a passport is Mir Rahman Rahmani, Speaker of the Second Chamber of Afghanistan, who not only bought Cypriot citizenship for himself, his wife and three daughters, but also the passports of the family delivered for St. Kitts and Nevis, one of several Caribbean states that sell citizenship.
Rahmani is a former general who became a very successful businessman who handled fuel and transportation contracts between the Afghan government and the U.S. military.
His election as Speaker of the House of Representatives provoked fighting on the floor of the House of Representatives because opponents demanded a ban on voting.
Fighting breaks out in protest of Rahman Rahmani’s election as Speaker of the Second Chamber of Afghanistan [Al Jazeera]
Two other officials who bought gold passports are Pham Phu Quoc, who represents Ho Chi Minh City in the Vietnamese Congress, and Russian national Igor Reva, once a deputy minister for economic development.
PEPs like Rahmani, Quok and Reva often have keys to huge amounts of taxpayer money, senior policy officer Laure Brillaud of the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International told Al Jazeera.
“They have access to public resources, they can sit on a government contract and be able to make decisions, so it presents a high financial risk that they will be harmed or corrupt others,” Brillaud told Al Jazeera.
The documents do not prove traffic by one individual PEP and it does not follow from identifying risk that PEPs are involved in corruption.
The government of Cyprus will not reveal who they are giving #goldenvisas no. #CyprusPapers show why. https://t.co/8kHOXIYgEo
– Transparency Int’l (@anticorruption) August 23, 2020
However, they raise serious questions about why someone entrusting a public position in their home country wants to buy a second citizenship for themselves or their family.
In addition, in several cases it raises the question of how these officials got the money to invest at least $ 2.5 million in the economy of Cyprus, one of the requirements for obtaining a gold passport.
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Who are the rich people who buy so-called ‘golden passports’? |
“In many countries, it is only possible to get great wealth through illegal connections and relationships,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the UK’s International Institute of Strategic Affairs.
According to Gould-Davies, the reason these officials then choose to obtain a second or even third citizenship is the protection of the assets acquired over the years.
“Once they have received these sums of money through these kinds of connections which we consider to be very problematic, they want to secure those possessions by hiding their property in countries which enjoy the rule of law,” he added, referring to Cyprus.
EU criticism
A Cypriot passport is a coveted possession in many countries because it gives access to free travel, work and banking in the European Union, which has criticized the program several times because it has been a security risk since incarnation. in 2013.
As a result, the EU considers Cyprus to be a backdoor in the rest of the EU for politically influential people from potentially hostile states.
Under pressure from the EU, Cyprus changed its rules in 2019, but Al Jazeera’s investigation revealed that many PEPs had already secured their place as Cypriot citizens before the rule change came into force.
That list includes Mohammed Jameel, who sits on the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Tang Yong, president of part of a state energy conglomerate China Resources Power Holding, and Apurv Bagri, former deputy chairman of the Board of Financial Services of Dubai.
It also includes former member of the Russian House of Representatives Vadim Moskovitch, former member of the Ukrainian National Legislature Volodymyr Zubky, and billionaire Taha Mikati, brother of former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who t both are among the richest men of Lebanon.
Taka Mikati, right, with his brother, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati [Facebook/Al Jazeera
In July 2020, Cyprus passed a new law enabling them to strip citizenship sold to anyone who was now considered damaging to Cyprus’s national interest.
But although PEPs are now deemed unfit to become citizens, the new law leaves many existing “high-risk” cases untouched. Anyone who has already paid their $2.5m can hang onto their golden passport.
In reply to questions by Al Jazeera, Cypriot Minister of the Interior Nicos Nouris did not respond as to why the new legislation enabling the country to revoke citizenship does not apply to PEPs.
Nouris did say that there was now “an independent three-member committee which studies and evaluates all the information regarding persons that have been granted Cypriot citizenship”.
Over the coming days, Al Jazeera will reveal more details from The Cyprus Papers about the people who bought Cypriot citizenship.
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