https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/report-says-ministry-was-shuffling-papers
An initial redacted report on golden passports made public in the Republic of Cyprus on Tuesday painted a picture of an Interior Ministry serving as a “filing office” without ability to examine cases in any meaningful way, with opposition crying foul over the committees’ selective method...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/redacted-report-to-be-published-noon
A redacted version of the Kalogerou report on golden passports is expected to be made public on Tuesday afternoon, amid criticism of the government from opposition parties calling for transparency in probing corruption allegations...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/diko-raises-conflict-of-interest-for-ag
DIKO president Nicholas Papadopoulos has raised concerns over conflicts of interest for the state’s attorney general in connection with a golden passports investigation, following a statement from the Presidential Palace on publicizing some findings but not in their entirety...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/business/cyprus-remains-an-attractive-investment-destination
Cyprus remains an attractive investment destination, especially among established investors
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/ag-says-release-of-golden-passports-files-would-harm-investigations
The findings of the investigative committee looking into the Cyprus’ disgraced Citizenship by Investment scheme will be made public to the degree that will not affect public interest, Attorney General Giorgos Savvides said Friday....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-focus-on-larnaca-in-passport-probe
Police in Larnaca carried out searches on Tuesday in connection with an ongoing criminal probe into golden passports, with reports saying investigators were focusing on at least five persons of interest but were not calling them suspects...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/government-ups-rhetoric-against-auditor
The Cypriot government hinted over the weekend it might refer the auditor general to the Supreme Court over “indecent” behaviour, after the audit office published yet another damning report alleging offences in a Cabinet decision to grant investor passports to individuals linked to a casino project without meeting the criteria...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-turns-attention-to-jho-low
Cypriot-naturalized citizen Jho Low, the Malaysian fugitive financier whose golden passports came under scrutiny last year, was back in the news this week after Al Jazeera published a video with actual voice recordings of 'the biggest fish' seeking a way out of the 1MDB colossal scandal...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-video-stirs-privacy-debate
The former speaker of the House is reportedly calling on the chief of police to investigate two Al Jazeera journalists, saying they violated his rights when a hidden camera was used to capture footage that became part of the network’s corruption investigation known as The Cyprus Papers...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/citizens-to-protest-over-passport-probe
A new demonstration will take place outside the Presidential Palace on Friday, with protesters gathering to express their frustration over the government’s handling of the golden passport scandal and demand that officials take ownership of the crisis...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/passport-committee-shuns-media-over-covid
The special investigative committee probing the passport scandal in the Republic of Cyprus cited the pandemic this week after banning reporters from hearings, while it was unclear how Thursday’s additional COVID measures would further affect media coverage...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-search-homes-offices-of-those-implicated-in-al-jazeera-video
Police on Thursday searched the homes and offices of the people embroiled in the Al Jazeera video on the Cyprus Papers that caused ongoing political turmoil on the island.
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https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/foreign-investors-rush-to-meet-deadline
Days before Cyprus’ Citizenship by Investment Programme is set to go offline, interior ministry officials and paralegals kicked things into high gear to handle the last batch of petitions by foreign investors before the programme ends on Sunday...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/constitutional-crisis-unfolds-over-passports
An unprecedented constitutional crisis has been unfolding in the Republic of Cyprus, with the attorney general publicly scolding an inquisitive auditor general and asking him to back off from seeking access to files in connection with golden passports linked to a casino project...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/fresh-total-lockdown-out-of-the-question-for-cyprus-govt
Finance minister Constantinos Petrides on Monday strongly refuted the possibility of Cyprus entering a second lockdown, such as the one it was plummeted into in March as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/attorney-general-calls-auditor-‘to-order
Cypriot Attorney General George Savvides issued a stern warning on Saturday, calling to order the state’s auditor general over his insistence on examining specific golden passport case files linked to a casino project on the island...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/opposition-turns-up-pressure-over-passport-scandal
Parliament in Cyprus is expected to debate proposals over the passport scandal, including whether a new law can force the government to hand over files to the auditor general as well as a freeze on pending applications allegedly being squeezed through before the disgraced scheme is set to go on hiatus...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/reynders-golden-passport-schemes-must-be-abolished
The EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders briefed the plenary of the European Parliament on Thursday on the Commission’s decision to initiate infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta in view of their ‘golden passports’ schemes which appear to be in violation of EU law....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/business/ey-attractiveness-survey-cyprus-2020
EY Attractiveness Survey Cyprus 2020: Investors are optimistic about the country’s attractiveness over the coming years, but state that there is room for improvement...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-defends-block-on-audit-office
President Nicos Anastasiades invoked the Constitution during a televised interview, saying the job description of the auditor general, who is currently seeking information on foreign nationals linked to a casino project, does not authorize him to 'have a say in everything'...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-get-to-work-on-passport-scandal
Cypriot police appear to have their plate full with three different probes into alleged corruption in the golden passport scheme, with investigators facing their biggest challenge by a shocking Al Jazeera video that dealt the fatal blow in the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cypriot-minister-has-one-regret-over-passports
Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, who oversaw Cyprus' disgraced golden passport scheme while he was serving as interior minister, says he should have pushed harder to end the program much sooner...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/game-plan-to-circumvent-passport-rules
Meme culture enthusiasts in Cyprus upped their game this week following a passport scandal reported by Al Jazeera, with catchphrases such as “this is Cyprus” and name dodging tricks seen in a secret video prompting media to spot five ways a lawyer could circumvent the system in the golden passport scheme...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cypriots-rise-up-against-corruption
A crowd of protesters gathered outside Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia on Wednesday evening, calling on House Speaker Demitris Syllouris to resign after he was featured in an Al Jazeera undercover story on corruption...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/carrot-and-stick-approach-to-turkey-failing-eu-envoys-say
The European Union's latest strategy to defuse tensions with Turkey is unravelling, two weeks after it was sealed, raising the risk of conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean, diplomats, officials and experts said....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/judge-in-cypriot-passport-probe-resigns
Retired Supreme Court Judge Costas Pampallis has resigned from his position as a member of an indepednent investigative committee, a team that was tasked to sift through Cyprus’ golden passport scheme in the wake of corruption scandals and systemic failures...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mokas-refutes-lawyer-s-claim-in-passport-scandal
The Republic of Cyprus’ Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) has weighed in on the passport scandal following Al Jazeera’s earth-shuttering investigative report on corruption in the island’s Citizenship by Investment programme...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-scraps-golden-passport-programme
The Republic of Cyprus announced unexpectedly on Tuesday that the current Citizenship by Investment Programme would be abolished, following an emergency Cabinet meeting a day after Al Jazeera published a secret video alleging corruption in the island’s golden passport scheme...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/police-launch-probe-against-al-jazeera-operation
The state attorney ordered a probe following a complaint filed by high-profile Cypriot officials targeted by an Al Jazeera secret investigation on corruption, with members of the public outraged as more shocking revelations emerged in a new Cyprus Papers video...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/al-jazeera-strikes-again-at-cyprus-papers
Al Jazeera’s investigative unit struck again on Monday with new Cyprus Papers material, involving a report accompanied by a one-hour video depicting undercover reporters who visited Cyprus and posed as representatives of an imaginary ultrarich investor, Mr X, who was convicted for palm-greasing and money laundering, to ‘test’ whether local authorities would still be willing accept his hefty investment and provide him with Cypriot citizenship....
