These include Russian oligarch Alexei Kuzmichev, metals baron Oleg Deripaska, former FSB investigator Sergey Kovbasyuk and Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, who was arrested in Kyiv on charges of fraud and money laundering. Malaysian businessman and fugitive financier Jho Low was also on the list of names that lost Cypriot citizenship.
Two government officials refused to comment on the process, noting that the government in Nicosia “does not comment on publications concerning confidential decisions of the Council of Ministers or issues that concern strictly personal data.”
The reasons given for revoking the passports are false declarations, criminal backgrounds and failure to meet naturalization requirements. The list of total revocations has risen to 286.
The “Golden Visa” scheme, which was set up in 2013, has netted Cyprus some €7 billion. People from Russia and China have been the biggest participants, with the resort town of Limassol now known locally as “Limassolgrad” because so much property there is owned by Russians.
For decades, the Mediterranean country built an economy that courted Russians and had an infamous reputation as a conduit for illicit money flows. The country has gone a long way toward untying these knots in the last decade, but the process has accelerated drastically since the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Earlier this year, the U.S. and Cyprus announced they would boost their cooperation in enhancing Cypriot capabilities in countering and prosecuting illicit finance operations with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
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Publish date : 2024-11-28 07:16:00
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The post Cyprus revokes more high-profile ‘golden’ passports – POLITICO first appeared on Love Europe.
Author : love-europe
Publish date : 2024-11-28 17:25:25
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