Four individuals charged with conspiracy in Al Jazeera expose

Four individuals have been charged with conspiracy and will appear before a criminal court in September for their role in granting citizenship to foreign investors who didn't quite meet the criteria.  The incident, which happened back in October 2020, involved high-ranking political figures who were secretly recorded by an Al Jazeera undercover reporter posing as a possible client.

When the much-publicized documentary, ‘The Cyprus Papers – Undercover’, aired on Al Jazeera, it captured extensive evidence of government corruption related to the Citizenship by Investment program (CBI).  The expose caused shockwaves in Cyprus society and led to the resignation of the then House of Representatives President, Demetris Syllouris, and Cyprus MP, Christakis Giovani, shortly after.

The attorney-general's office said on Thursday that the case was lodged at Nicosia District Court and will be referred to the Assize Court concerning the case of the Al Jazeera network and the events in the framework of naturalizations of foreign investors and business people, according to the conclusions prepared by the Nikolatos Committee.

The indictment consists of five charges related to conspiracy offenses to defraud the Republic, influencing a public official in violation of the law ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on the Criminalisation of Corruption.