Cyprus suddenly stopped issuing gold visas after a press report and video of alleged corruption in a trial in which foreigners were encouraged to pay for a visa allowing them to stay in the country – and thus in the European Union.
After years of denying that the system was used by criminals, mostly money laundering people. to buy an apartment, the Al Jazeera report and video showed that there were serious problems with the process. The recording led to a sudden meeting of the Cypriot government during which the generous program was abruptly interrupted.
The Golden Visa program worked on the principle that applicants would get a residence permit after investing $ 2.5 million in real estate in the country. The money was desperately needed after the country’s economy almost collapsed completely in 2013 .
TheAl Jazeera report stated that Cyprus is providing passports to criminals and persons under investigation through the investment plan.
1400 application documents
The news agency’s preliminary investigation listed several people who appeared to be suspected of illegal activities and even wanted by the police during the acquisition of Cyprus citizenship through the investment scheme.
The HellasDaily retained all Al Jazeera’s names and retained all reservations: Mykola Zlochevsky: owner of energy giant Burisma. According to Al Jazeera, he obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2017 when he was investigated for corruption in his country, Ukraine. According to the report, in June 2020, Ukrainian prosecutors accepted an offer of $6 million to withdraw the investigation. Zlochevsky and Brisma denied understanding of bribery.
Nikolay Gornovskiy: According to the publication, the former Russian energy giant Gazprom was already on the list of abuses when Cyprus approved his application in 2019.
Ali Beglov: Despite being jailed for extortion, he still obtained a Cyprus passport of Russian origin.
Zhang Keqiang: Although Chinese businessmen were jailed for fraud due to stock trading, they still received Cyprus passports.
Pham Nhat Vu: In Vietnam, his application was approved one month after he was accused of bribing millions of dollars through telecommunications transactions. He is currently serving three years in prison.
