Cabinet on Wednesday decided to revoke the Cypriot citizenship of Malaysian-born Jho Low, an internationally wanted fugitive.Though the decision was taken last year, Low filed an appeal prompting an independent committee to re-examine the case. Government sources told the Cyprus Mail the committee decided to reject the appeal, prompting the interior minister to put the … Read more
Authorities are close to completing an investigation into how Malaysian fugitive Jho Low obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2015. Low, wanted for allegedly embezzling billions from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund, acquired a Cypriot passport through the country’s citizenship by investment program. The investigation involves an international arrest warrant and the potential confiscation of a villa Low purchased in Ayia Napa. Despite initial delays, Low’s citizenship was revoked in May 2023, leading to an appeal filed with the Supreme Court. Low denies wrongdoing and his whereabouts are unknown.
Oleg Deripaska dismissed the latest U.S. sanctions on companies connected to a scheme as nonsense. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Russian companies disguising ownership of a .6 billion industrial stake controlled by Deripaska, leading to Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International dropping a planned purchase. Deripaska, previously sanctioned by Britain and the U.S., has challenged the sanctions, calling them groundless and absurd. He was also stripped of his Cypriot citizenship after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and added to the E.U.’s sanctions list in April 2022.
The Law Office of the Republic has given the go-ahead to begin prosecutorial actions in the largest citizenship services fraud case, along with three additional cases. One of the cases involves a prominent law firm investigated for its role in 20 specific citizenship applications, with implications in over a hundred cases overall. The judiciary is expected to examine all four cases, potentially leading to formal charges against the firm, individual lawyers, and additional staff members. The police have gathered evidence to identify the culprits involved in the offenses. The investigations into the ‘golden passport’ scandal are ongoing, with Police Chief Stelios Papatheodorou hinting at imminent advancements in resolving the cases.
– Vinod Adani is the top-ranking Cypriot on the Forbes World’s Billionaires List for 2024 with a net worth of billion.
– Adani, aged 75, resides in Dubai but has Cypriot citizenship.
Fact: MPs called for more transparency over the social support fund managed by the First Lady during a House ethics committee meeting.
Cyprus’ reputation has been negatively affected for over seven years due to the Jho Low scandal, where the Malaysian criminal obtained a Cypriot passport through real estate investments and donations to the Church of Cyprus. The late archbishop admitted to assisting Jho Low in obtaining citizenship, claiming ignorance of his past. The 2021 OCCRP report highlighted Jho Low as the face of the 1MDB embezzlement scandal, stealing billions from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. The Cypriot “golden passport” program, officially known as Citizenship by Investment, aimed to attract wealthy foreigners but was criticized for facilitating access for kleptocrats and criminals to the EU. The program was lucrative for lawyers and financial service providers in Cyprus. The new president of Cyprus has committed to reforming these practices to restore the country’s reputation as a legitimate investment and financial services destination. A proposal suggests assigning regulatory responsibilities to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) to ensure independence and effectiveness in supervision, despite opposition from the Cyprus Bar Association. CySEC, under the leadership of Chairman George Theocharides, acknowledges the need for additional resources and expertise to take on this challenge. Demetra Kalogerou, former CySEC chair, supports the government’s decision for a single regulator, criticizing the lack of independence in the current system where professional associations regulate their own members.