Cyprus files first prosecution in passports-for-investment scheme

The action against five individuals and four legal entities was taken based on the findings of an ad hoc committee.

Cyprus has filed its first criminal prosecution in a controversial passport-for-investment scheme abolished last year after Al Jazeera’s corruption exposé, according to the state legal service. “The first criminal case concerning the naturalisation of foreign investors and business people was registered at Larnaca district court,” it said in a statement on Friday. The action against five individuals and four legal entities, facing a total of 37 charges, was taken based on the findings of an ad hoc committee, it said, without giving names.