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Cyprus and others must eliminate the passport black market

‘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 …

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Cyprus cancels maligned ‘golden passport’ scheme

Cyprus on Tuesday scrapped a lucrative programme granting citizenship to wealthy investors amid new allegations that a top state official and a veteran lawmaker were implicated in attempts to bypass strict vetting rules and issue a passport to a fictitious investor with a supposed criminal record. Cyprus government spokesman Kyriakos Koushos said the Cabinet accepted a recommendation by the Minsters …

Cyprus: Anti-corruption protests after Al Jazeera passport expose

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 MP quits in wake of passports-for-sale scandal

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 officials implicated in plan to sell passport to criminals

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

A leak of confidential files reveals how Cyprus became a haven for the world’s elite and poses a threat to EU security. A ‘golden’ passport Pham Nhat Vu is one of thousands who paid to receive Cypriot citizenship under a citizenship-by-investment scheme, and features on the list of those revealed in The Cyprus Papers, a huge leak of official documents …

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

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. …

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 …