EU Citizenship for Sale: Legal Scheme Allows Corrupt Politicians and Businessmen to Slip into the EU
Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs suspected of corruption are among hundreds who have acquired EU passports under the “golden visa” program - a bourgeois shortcut to European citizenship in exchange for cash investments, the Guardian reported Sunday.
List of recipients seen by The Guardian includes “prominent businesspeople and individuals with considerable political influence.”
The paper claims that Cyprus alone has made over $US 4 billion selling passports to international oligarchs, "granting them the right to live and work throughout Europe," completely legally.
However, Cyprus is not alone. “The Golden Visa program for Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece and Cyprus are the most prominent. Bulgaria and Hungary offer residency and citizenship by investment in Europe through government bonds,” the Golden Visa website claims.
The BBC reported three years ago about this kind of sale of citizenship.
“Just like you diversify an investment portfolio, you want to diversity your passport portfolio," investment expert Christian Kalin, told the BBC.
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