CYLIFE Interactive Media Consultancy

  • NEWSPAPER
    • DATABASE
  • NEPTUNE TV
    • TV Associates
  • ABOUT
  • SERVICES
    • MADSEKTOR LABEL
    • INTERNET
    • VIDEO PRODUCTION
    • DESIGN
    • MEDIA PLANNING
    • APPS
    • HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
    • SOCIAL MEDIA
    • SEMINARS
    • ADVERTISING
    • TELEPHONY
    • ΣΕΛΙΔΩΣΗ
    • e-PUBLISHING
    • TRANSLATIONS
  • UPDATES/ARTICLES
  • CONTACT
  • NEWSPAPER
    • DATABASE
  • NEPTUNE TV
    • TV Associates
  • ABOUT
  • SERVICES
    • MADSEKTOR LABEL
    • INTERNET
    • VIDEO PRODUCTION
    • DESIGN
    • MEDIA PLANNING
    • APPS
    • HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
    • SOCIAL MEDIA
    • SEMINARS
    • ADVERTISING
    • TELEPHONY
    • ΣΕΛΙΔΩΣΗ
    • e-PUBLISHING
    • TRANSLATIONS
  • UPDATES/ARTICLES
  • CONTACT

Cyprus officials implicated in plan to sell passport to criminals according toAljazeera ( VIDEO)

12/10/2020

 
Picture
An article by Aljazeera, complemented by a video was published today. It remains to be seen, how close to the truth, the allegations are.

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.

In The Cyprus Papers Undercover, Al Jazeera reveals how the country’s highest political ranks are willing to aid and abet convicted criminals to obtain Cypriot citizenship, granting the criminal access to the European Union’s internal markets and visa-free travel.

Among those are parliamentary speaker Demetris Syllouris and member of parliament, Christakis Giovanis (also known in Cyprus as Giovani), who is also one of the country’s largest real estate developers.
The revelation comes two months after Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit published The Cyprus Papers, a leak of 1,400 documents showing Cyprus regularly failed to adhere to its own laws and allowed convicted criminals and fugitives to obtain its citizenship.
Following the investigation, Cyprus defended the programme, saying there had been several mistakes in recent years but the tightening of laws and applicants’ background checks were sufficient to stop criminals from obtaining a passport.
Convicted Chinese businessmanCyprus’s citizenship through investment programme grants a Cypriot passport to anyone who invests at least $2.5m in the country, often through real estate investments.
Since 2013, when the passport programme started, the country has made more than seven billion euros ($8bn). The amount is used to keep the nation’s failing economy afloat.
Do you have more info about golden passport sales or want to share another tip? Contact us on +974 5080 0207 (WhatsApp/Signal), or find other ways to reach out on our Tips page.
Although legal, the programme has been criticised regularly by the European Union and anti-corruption NGOs, saying it has facilitated the laundering of stolen assets from Russia and beyond.
Using an undercover operative called Billy, who claimed to represent a Chinese investor sentenced to seven years in prison for money laundering, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit gained access to some of the country’s highest-ranking politicians involved in the scheme.
From the start, Billy was open about the prison sentence, which would officially disqualify the non-existing applicant for the Cyprus Investment Programme (CIP).
However, Billy was told by a real estate developer all the way up to the speaker of parliament that the prison sentence would not be an issue as long as enough money was invested.
“That’s not the first to face this issue in Cyprus,” Andreas Pittadjis, a registered service provider for the CIP, told Billy. “I had a guy who was in custody for two years.  He was in prison for two years for corruption and money laundering. We had ways to justify everything and he went through with the approval of his passport application. He now has his visa waiting for him. No problems whatsoever.”

Pittadjis even suggested changing the name on the passport, which, in combination with the new passport, would allow a convicted criminal to assume a completely new identity.
“Of course we can change his name. This is Cyprus,” he said.
The lawyer’s comments were echoed by high-ranking politicians.
Syllouris and Giovani said they would do everything in their power to get Billy’s non-existing criminal employer a passport.
“It’s not easy. But I can promise, we shall do the best. And I believe we have the experience,” Giovani said.
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.”

Family applications
The citizenship through investment programme is popular with people from countries like Russia, China and Ukraine, granting them access to European markets while also offering an option to store their money offshore.
As a result, many businesses, such as the Giovani Group, a real estate developer founded by politician Giovani, cater specifically to wealthy investors.
Its executive director Antonis Antoniou, said Billy’s employer should look at investing more in Cyprus – up to 20 million euros – despite knowing he was a convicted criminal.

“The more you invest you, [the more] you are in more favourable terms. You can ‘skip the waiting list’, as we say,” Antoniou told Al Jazeera’s undercover journalists.

Pittadjis explained that to solve any issues that could arise, applications are made through family members of those who are not allowed to apply themselves. The criminal, then, can apply later as a family member.

“I had a client who wanted to make an investment and couldn’t. But his wife could. I had another who couldn’t but his son could,” the lawyer said. “You cannot make problems disappear. You can solve them.”

‘System is broken beyond repair’
According to Laure Brillaud, Senior Policy Officer for anti-corruption NGO Transparency International EU, the footage shows that Cyprus’s citizenship through investment programme does not work.
“What all this shows is that it’s not just a few bad apples. It’s the system that is broken beyond repair,” Brillaud told Al Jazeera while calling on the EU to take action to change the passport schemes currently in place.

Response from those involved
In response to questions from Al Jazeera, Pittadjis said he understood from the outset what was proposed involved money laundering and criminal activities and that everything he did thereafter amounted to “fishing for more details”.
He also indicated that, a few days after Al Jazeera’s journalists left Cyprus and failed to provide him with a copy of the proposed applicant’s passport, he reported it to Cyprus’s anti-money laundering unit.
Giovani and Antonis Antoniou of the Giovani Group told Al Jazeera they shared their suspicions regarding the proposed applicant with Pittadjis.
They said their dealings with our undercover journalists were intended to gather information to support a report to the authorities without “tipping them off”.
Syllouris said that he provided no services to the applicant and referred to the anti-money laundering report subsequently made by Pittadjis.

Source: aljazeera.com

Comments are closed.

    PORTFOLIO
    ​&
    ARCHIVES


    All
    Alexia Vassiliou
    ATHLETIC CLUBS
    AUTOMOTIVE
    COFFFEE OUTLETS
    COMMUNICATIONS
    COSMETICS
    DANCE
    DEFENCE & ARMAMENTS
    EKATERINA POPOVA
    ELENI KONSTANTINOU
    ENTERTAINMENT
    GALATEIA CHARALAMBIDOU
    GYMS
    HEALTH
    INSURANCE
    KATE RADOJKOVIC
    LAW FIRMS
    LOGOS
    MULTIMEDIA
    MUSIC
    MUTLTIVENUE
    NEPTUNE TV
    ORGANISATIONS
    OUTLETS
    PRESS RELEASES
    PRODUCTION & RETAIL
    PUBLISHING
    SEA ENDEAVOURS
    SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOS
    SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
    SPORTS
    STAVROS SIDERAS
    TECHNOLOGY
    TV11
    TV Ads
    VIKTORIA FORCE

    BY YEAR

    May 2022
    April 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    August 2014
    July 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2010
    February 2005
    July 2004
    June 2002
    March 2002
    June 1999
    June 1997

    Click to set custom HTML

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.