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14th October 2020

After outcry, Cyprus suspends its citizenship for cash programme

Cyprus said it was suspending a controversial citizenship for investment programme on Tuesday following reports of abuses of a system that gives the rich a passport and visa-free travel throughout the EU. Criticism of the programme reached a head after the Al Jazeera network secretly filmed a state official, a… Read More

13th October 2020

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. In The Cyprus Papers Undercover, Al Jazeera reveals how the country’s highest political… Read More

12th October 2020

Cyprus to revoke seven Golden Passports

By Eli Moskowitz, OCCRP, 9 October 2020 OCCRP – Cyprus will begin the process of revoking passports belonging to seven individuals who obtained them by submitting false information on their applications for the country’s Citizenship by Investment Program, according to a Wednesday government press release. Following a meeting… Read More

6th October 2020

Spies, oil and the billionaire mogul trying his luck with the National Lottery

Sir Malcolm Rifkind had been more used to summoning ambassadors than visiting them. His spell as Foreign Secretary had been cut short, however, by a Conservative electoral collapse. Having lost his Commons seat too, in the first summer of the new millennium Rifkind approached the Czech embassy, a prize-winning concrete… Read More

2nd October 2020

EU Leaders Agree to Adopt Sanctions on Belarus Officials

The European Union reached an early morning deal Friday to advance a sanctions package on Belarus in coming days after Cyprus and Greece won the bloc’s backing on a statement demanding an end to Turkish drilling in what they claim as their waters, leaders said. The Belarus sanctions, which will… Read More

28th September 2020

Wealthy Britons step up citizenship shopping to thwart Brexit

The number of British entrepreneurs looking to “buy” citizenship from countries offering visa-free access to the European Union has risen sharply, investment migration firms say, as prospects of a post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and the bloc darken. Investment immigration firm Astons said it had seen a 50% and 30%… Read More

25th September 2020

‘Major Questions’: FinCEN Leak Sheds Light On The Hidden Money Flows Of Putin’s Russia

In the summer of 2015, the New York branch of British bank Barclays flagged as suspicious a transfer of $1 million to former Moscow Deputy Mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze for “consulting services.” The transfer originated with a company called BEM Global Corp., which is controlled by prominent real-estate developer Roman Fuks. Read More

25th September 2020

FinCEN Files: Dublin-listed fund sent $23m to firm suspected of links to Russian crime boss

A fund that is listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange transferred $23.5 million (€20 million) to a company which a major US bank later became concerned might be linked to a notorious Russian gangster, according to a leaked report seen by The Irish Times. The report was filed in September… Read More

25th September 2020

Something for nothing: Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash profited from bailout loans

Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash siphoned off more than $190 million of state loans his bank received in the wake of the global financial crisis, part of which he ploughed into a deal to privatize a titanium manufacturing company, according to leaked documents. Bank filings and details from a criminal investigation… Read More

22nd September 2020

ING Bank Worked for Russian Money Laundering Network

Over the past decade, ING Bank has carried out billion-dollar transactions for companies from one of the largest Russian money laundering networks ever exposed. This puts the bank in a similar position to Deutsche Bank and Danske Bank, whose involvement in the network has previously been exposed. The German bank… Read More

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