Cyprus to probe Cambodia cash-for-passports case

Cyprus said on Wednesday it will investigate recent reports that family members and allies of Cambodia’s longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen had obtained Cypriot EU passports under a citizenship-for-investment scheme.

“There will be an investigation into cases of naturalisation, that have appeared in publication, if anything untoward is found decisions will be taken, including revocation of citizenship if required,” government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told reporters.

He added: “After being briefed, the cabinet decided, and the interior minister will request and conduct an investigation into the cases of naturalization appearing in the media and being talked about.”

Prodromou did not mention the Cambodia accusation but did say the cases in question, related to a time when the investment for a passport scheme was less stringent.

He said the island’s citizenship for investment was now “thoroughly scrutinised” and doubts raised from past cases will be examined.

Last week, opposition MP Irene Charalambides said on Facebook: “We have been ridiculed in the international arena. There is no excuse.”

“Where is the line drawn for handing out passports? Until when will we have to keep apologizing to international institutions?” she added.

Charalambides, a special representative on fighting corruption for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said the authorities had an obligation to respond to the findings of a Reuters investigation.

The investigation said members of Cambodia’s elite had overseas assets worth tens of millions of dollars and used their wealth to buy foreign citizenship — a practice the premier has decried as unpatriotic.

It said they acquired Cyprus passports in 2016 and 2017. Initially, the interior ministry said in a statement that “the government’s policy is not to comment publicly on individual cases.”

Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has said it does not name applicants who receive a “golden passport” through the investment scheme.

In February, it made changes to its lucrative citizenship for investment scheme to make it more “trustworthy” after the European Commission said it could help organized crime gangs infiltrate the bloc.

Under the new criteria, a Cyprus passport is granted in exchange for an investment of EUR 2.5 million, raising it from EUR 2 million, including the purchase of a residency.

The government in Nicosia says due diligence procedures are more stringent and effective, such as the scrutiny of each applicant conducted by an international agency.

The scheme was launched in the aftermath of the island’s 2013 economic crisis.