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The Vietnamese embassy Pham Phu Quoc is one of those that leaked information about the purchase of a golden Cyprus passport
Cyprus said it will remove the “golden passports” of seven people bought under the country’s citizenship investment program, according to Al Jazeera.
The move comes two weeks after Al Jazeera announced an investigation called The Cyprus Papers, a leaked archive of documents revealing that the country had sold passports to convicted criminals and legal evaders. laws and those that are perceived as having a high risk of corruption.
President Nicos Anastasiades told AFP news agency on Friday, September 4, 2020, that a special committee had begun investigating 30 people who bought passports to see if there were “any violations of our criteria.” It is not.
“It appears that seven out of 30 of these people will be deprived of their Cypriot citizenship,” Anastasiades said without revealing their identities.
However, the question is whether this is a new measure by the Cypriot authorities or is it a repeat of what has been announced.
In late 2019, the Cypriot government said that 30 people were under investigation and faced deprivation of citizenship.
The names of nine investors and 16 relatives have been released in reports (the remaining five are unnamed), but none of the names are listed in The Cyprus Papers.
In May 2019, the Cyprus Interior Ministry told Al Jazeera that it had “initiated deprivation procedures” of 11 investors and their families. That means that the Cyprus government’s announcement on September 4, 2020, that only seven people’s passports were taken away, showed that they were performing less than originally promised.
It is also unclear if any of the people listed in The Cyprus Papers are among the few who have lost their “golden passports” or are related to previous reports.
Convicted crime
Among those who have bought a Cyprus passport and therefore have the right to open a bank account, apply for a job and travel without a visa in the European Union, is Maleksabet Ebrahimi, an Iranian citizen, who has a special order. Interpol, and Ali Beglov, a Russian citizen, have been sentenced to prison for extortion.
In addition, two Vietnamese have purchased a Cyprus passport, the names of which have been announced by Al Jazeera, namely Mr. Pham Nhat Vu and the National Representative of Pham Phu Quoc.
In an interview with the AFP news agency, President Anastasiades defended the passport program that provides the main source of income for this Mediterranean country.
Although promises were made at the end of 2019 to revoke the passports of those involved in criminal activities, it was not until July of this year that the Cyprus parliament passed legislation allowing the deprivation of public rights. people of that time.
Despite these changes, the EU regularly criticizes Cyprus and other countries for similar investment incentives.
Following the Al Jazeera investigation, European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said he was considering a possible lawsuit against Cyprus over the country’s citizenship exchange program.
