Explainer: What are The Cyprus Papers?
4 years, 7 months ago

Explainer: What are The Cyprus Papers?

Al Jazeera  

Al Jazeera has obtained over 1,400 Cypriot passport applications, revealing they were sold to criminals and fugitives. The Cyprus Papers are a batch of leaked documents obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, containing more than 1,400 approved applications for the Cyprus Investment Programme run by the Republic of Cyprus. The programme allows people to buy a Cypriot passport, and by extension become European Union citizens, by investing at least 2.15m euros in the country. In the coming days, Al Jazeera will reveal the identities of dozens of people who acquired Cypriot citizenship and who, according to the country’s present rules, should not have received the document. For many of the ultra-high net worth individuals in The Cyprus Papers, the $2.5m required to buy Cypriot passports is a small portion of their total wealth.

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History of this topic

Four charged over Cyprus ‘cash-for-passports’ scheme
2 years, 8 months ago

Four charged over Cyprus ‘cash-for-passports’ scheme

Al Jazeera  

Former President of Cyprus Parliament and ex-MP among four charged with corruption, legal sources say, following Al Jazeera investigation. Four people, including the former president of the Cyprus Parliament, have been charged with corruption over a cash-for-passports scandal exposed by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. The Cyprus Papers Undercover In the documentary, all four men told undercover reporters posing as representatives …

Probe: Cyprus wrongly issued passports despite warnings
3 years, 9 months ago

Probe: Cyprus wrongly issued passports despite warnings

Associated Press  

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The Cyprus government continued for at least four years to unlawfully issue passports to relatives of wealthy investors under an investment-for-citizenship program, despite warnings by the Attorney-General that this could be in breach of the law, the head of an independent commission said on Monday. Former Supreme Court President Myron Nicolatos said that, of the 6,779 passports …

Cyprus files first prosecution in passports-for-investment scheme
3 years, 10 months ago

Cyprus files first prosecution in passports-for-investment scheme

Al Jazeera  

The action against five individuals and four legal entities was taken based on the findings of an ad hoc committee. Cyprus has filed its first criminal prosecution in a controversial passport-for-investment scheme abolished last year after Al Jazeera’s corruption exposé, according to the state legal service. “The first criminal case concerning the naturalisation of foreign investors and business people was …

Most Cyprus passports issued in investment scheme were ‘illegal’
3 years, 11 months ago

Most Cyprus passports issued in investment scheme were ‘illegal’

Al Jazeera  

Between 2013 and 2019, probe finds that thousands of passports issued to rich foreigners were handed out illegally. More than half the passports Cyprus issued to rich foreigners in an investment scheme were illegal, a government-appointed board of inquiry has found. More than 3,000 foreign investors who stumped up a minimum of two million euros were given Cypriot passports between …

EU takes legal action against Cyprus, Malta over passport schemes
4 years, 5 months ago

EU takes legal action against Cyprus, Malta over passport schemes

Al Jazeera  

The European Commission announced on Tuesday it would start “infringement procedures” against Cyprus and Malta over their controversial citizenship through investment programmes. The announcement comes just over a week after Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit released The Cyprus Papers Undercover, which implicated high-ranking Cypriot officials who expressed a willingness to sell EU passports to criminals. In August, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit …

Is it really the end for Cyprus’s golden passports?
4 years, 5 months ago

Is it really the end for Cyprus’s golden passports?

Al Jazeera  

Powerful lobby and the prize of foreign investment casts doubt on a lasting end to citizenship by investment. An opposition politician in Cyprus has raised alarm and concern that a “powerful lobby” will likely resist attempts to end the country’s controversial golden passports scheme after Al Jazeera revealed how high-level officials were willing to help criminals access the programme. Everyone’s …

Cyprus and others must eliminate the passport black market
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus and others must eliminate the passport black market

Al Jazeera  

‘Investment programmes’ that tie the granting of citizenship to money can never be truly free of corruption. Al Jazeera’s investigation, The Cyprus Papers Undercover, showed how Cypriot authorities were willing to bypass regulations and even break the law to help criminals obtain European passports via the Cyprus Investment Programme. And when Al Jazeera released its investigation and demonstrated that Cyprus …

Cypriot parliament speaker quits after passport scheme scandal
4 years, 5 months ago

Cypriot parliament speaker quits after passport scheme scandal

Al Jazeera  

Demetris Syllouris was one of the two politicians implicated in Al Jazeera’s investigation into a passports-for-sale scheme. Demetris Syllouris, the Cypriot parliament speaker, has announced he will resign after he was implicated in a scheme that sold passports to criminals through the country’s citizenship through investment programme. Syllouris was filmed as part of Al Jazeera’s The Cyprus Papers Undercover, an …

Cyprus: Anti-corruption protests after Al Jazeera passport expose
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus: Anti-corruption protests after Al Jazeera passport expose

Al Jazeera  

The protests followed repeated calls for Cyprus’s second in command Demetris Syllouris to step down. The investigation, The Cyprus Papers Undercover, showed Speaker of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris and Member of Parliament Christakis Giovanis being willing to help criminals obtain passports via Cyprus’s citizenship through investment programme. “They want a cleaner Cyprus, they want these people out.” Do …

Cyprus cancels lucrative ‘golden passport’ scheme that grants citizenship to wealthy investors
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus cancels lucrative ‘golden passport’ scheme that grants citizenship to wealthy investors

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Cyprus on Tuesday scrapped a …

Cyprus MP quits in wake of passports-for-sale scandal
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus MP quits in wake of passports-for-sale scandal

Al Jazeera  

A Cypriot MP who was implicated in selling passports to criminals has quit as the country races to stem the fallout following an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera. The moves follow Al Jazeera’s The Cyprus Papers Undercover investigation, which was broadcast on Monday and showed how Giovanis was willing to help a convicted money launderer obtain a passport, even though …

Cyprus abolishes citizenship through investment programme
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus abolishes citizenship through investment programme

Al Jazeera  

The move comes after an Al Jazeera investigation showed that politicians were willing to help criminals acquire passports. 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, to aid and abet convicted criminals to obtain a passport through the Citizenship Investment Programme. Weeks …

How I exposed the politicians willing to sell passports in Cyprus
4 years, 5 months ago

How I exposed the politicians willing to sell passports in Cyprus

Al Jazeera  

How I went under cover to expose high-ranking Cypriot politicians willing to help a convicted criminal get a passport. “Because they believe that we are selling passports, it’s under attack by the European Union, it’s under attack by European Commission, it’s under attack by the money laundering authorities,” Andreas explained. He could make an investment in Cyprus because the origin …

Cyprus officials implicated in plan to sell passport to criminals
4 years, 5 months ago

Cyprus officials implicated in plan to sell passport to criminals

Al Jazeera  

Several high-ranking Cypriot officials, politicians, lawyers and real estate developers are implicated in a scheme that allows criminals to buy a European passport using the country’s citizenship through an investment programme, an Al Jazeera investigation has found. Convicted Chinese businessman Cyprus’s citizenship through investment programme grants a Cypriot passport to anyone who invests at least $2.5m in the country, often …

Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to ‘politically exposed persons’
4 years, 7 months ago

Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to ‘politically exposed persons’

Al Jazeera  

A huge 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. The revelation comes one day after Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit revealed that Cyprus sold passports to convicted criminals and fugitives from …

Exclusive: EU eyes legal action over Cyprus’s ‘golden passport’
4 years, 7 months ago

Exclusive: EU eyes legal action over Cyprus’s ‘golden passport’

Al Jazeera  

EU commissioner for justice calls for changes to citizenship-through-investment scheme after Al Jazeera investigation. European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders has told Al Jazeera he is looking into the possibility of legal action against Cyprus over the country’s citizenship-through-investment scheme. His comments come after Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit published The Cyprus Papers, a collection of leaked documents that showed Cyprus …

Cyprus cashes in as haven for elites fearful of home countries
4 years, 7 months ago

Cyprus cashes in as haven for elites fearful of home countries

Al Jazeera  

The Cyprus Papers reveal 500 Chinese and more than 350 Arabs bought Cypriot passports, granting them EU access. Rich Chinese and Arab officials and businesspeople have in large numbers bought Cypriot passports in an attempt to escape the restrictive regimes of their home countries, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has found. The Cyprus Papers, a huge leak of Cypriot passport application …

How rich Russians turned Cyprus into ‘Moscow on the Med’
4 years, 7 months ago

How rich Russians turned Cyprus into ‘Moscow on the Med’

Al Jazeera  

The Cyprus Papers reveal that in just two years, 1,000 wealthy Russians bought ‘golden passports’ from Cyprus. More than 1,000 Russians obtained a Cypriot passport through Cyprus’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, Al Jazeera can reveal after an investigation of more than 1,400 leaked documents. The reason these politically connected people look towards Cyprus, and by extension, the EU, is because they fear …

Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to criminals and fugitives
4 years, 7 months ago

Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to criminals and fugitives

Al Jazeera  

A leak of government documents reveals Cyprus sold citizenship to dozens of foreigners linked to crime and corruption. Convicted fraudsters, money launderers and political figures accused of corruption are among dozens of people from more than 70 countries who have bought so-called “golden passports” from Cyprus, according to a large cache of official documents obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. …

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