Cyprus has announced it will abolish a controversial passport scheme following an investigation by Al Jazeera that revealed how high-ranking politicians were willing to issue passports to convicted criminals.
The interior and finance ministries said in a statement posted in Greek on Twitter that the citizenship through investment programme in its current form will be abolished from November 1.
“The proposal was based on the longstanding weaknesses but also on the abusive exploitation of the provisions of the program,” Tuesday’s statement said.
On Monday, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit released The Cyprus Papers Undercover, which showed the willingness of parliament speaker, Demetris Syllouris, and member of parliament, Christakis Giovanis (also known as Giovani in Cyprus), to aid and abet convicted criminals to obtain a passport through the Citizenship Investment Programme (CIP).
Weeks earlier, Al Jazeera also released The Cyprus Papers, a cache of almost 1,400 documents showing Cyprus had granted passports to criminals, people wanted by Interpol in the previous years.
Following Tuesday’s announcement by the Cypriot government, Syllouris said he would abstain from duties until any government investigations had been completed.
Politicians implicated
By investing at least $2.5m into its economy, usually through real estate, anyone was able to obtain a Cypriot passport.
The programme has been regularly criticised by the European Union and anti-corruption NGOs, which claim it would increase the risk of money laundering through Europe’s financial institutions.
Using undercover operatives under the names Billy Lee and Angie, Al Jazeera’s reporters pretended to represent a Chinese businessman convicted for money laundering, which should have disqualified the applicant under Cyprus’ rules.
However, time and again they were told that the sentence would not be a problem as long as enough money was invested.
MP Christakis Giovani, also one of the island’s most prominent real estate developers, told the undercover reporters he ensure the deal was done.
“It’s not easy. But I can promise, we shall do the best. And I believe we have the experience,” Giovani said.
Parliamentary speaker Demetris Syllouris went even further, saying: “You can tell him that he will have, without mentioning my name or anybody else’s, full support from Cyprus. At any level – political, economic, social, everything – ok.”
These sentiments were echoed by several others, including a lawyer who said that it would even be possible to change the name on the passport, effectively changing the identity of the applicant.
EU criticism
After Monday’s revelations, several members of the European Parliament renewed their criticism of the programme.
“This film fully exposes the ‘citizenship by investment’ schemes for what they really are: a cover operation for bringing criminals and criminal money into the EU,” Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld told Al Jazeera.
“Today we have therefore renewed our call on the European Commission to not only take legal action against Cyprus, but submit a legislative proposal banning the practice altogether,” she added.
“If this film is not enough evidence for the need for a legal ban, then what is?”
Her comments were echoed by her colleague Sven Giegold, who said: “It is key that the EU takes over and that this means that the resident programme and the investment programme have to be ended.
“What is so shocking about these pictures is how natural it seems. This was not a one-case accident, it seems structural.
“This needs a treaty violation procedure by the European Commission.”
The Cyprus Papers
After The Cyprus Papers, Cyprus defended its programme, saying there had been several mistakes in recent years but tightening laws and checking applicants’ backgrounds were sufficient to stopping criminals obtaining passports.
However, in an internal audit released late September, the country’s audit office found several weaknesses in the scheme. At least 23 applications were fast-tracked by the minister of interior, while family members could apply for a passport with ease.
