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151. Golden passport findings hard to come by

The president of the Cyprus Bar Association says he has received adequate information from the audit office in connection with golden passports, adding that other agencies and officials have refused to share their findings citing direct orders from the interior minister...

152. State budget up in the air over golden passports

Opposition parties are cranking up the pressure on Interior Minister Nikos Nouris, who has been refusing to hand over files in connection with the golden passports scandal, with the Democratic Party making good on its promise not to vote the state budget later this month if there is no transparency...

153. Justice Minister highlights government's efforts to fight corruption

The government of Cyprus is making continuous efforts to protect the country from corruption, justice minister Emily Yiolitis said Wednesday, noting that the government has undertaken a series of actions and pushed a bundle of new laws through the pipeline....

154. 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...

155. Elusive businessman with Cyprus ties pops up

The whereabouts of elusive Russian hedge fund manager German Lillevali, who was linked to a flurry of companies in Cyprus after he became a resident, are no longer a mystery after reports that he was detained in the US on an immigration violation but released due to overcrowding amid the coronavirus pandemic...

156. Commission warns Cyprus over lacking anti-money laundering legislation

The European Commission on Friday sent a reasoned opinion to Cyprus for failing to transpose the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into national law....

157. 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....

158. EC: Cyprus, Malta golden passport schemes in violation of EU law

The European Commission launched infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta on Tuesday in response to their ‘golden passport’ schemes, and allowed a two-month period for the countries to respond in writing to the Commission’s warning letter....

159. Golden passports pushed forward in Commission agenda

After the Al Jazeera revelations, the Cyprus Investment Program is being pushed into the European Commission’s discussion agenda....

160. MOKAS refutes lawyer 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...

161. 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....

162. Passport revocation inquiries move forward

Cypriot authorities have identified seven individuals or foreign investors who could potentially be stripped of their Cypriot citizenship, after an internal probe pointed to forged documents or misleading information during the golden passport application process...

163. FinCEN Files: Cyprus banks embroiled in dirty money leak

Leaked documents from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, dubbed the FinCEN files, have revealed that several of the world’s major banks allowed over 200,000 suspicious financial transactions valued at around $2 trillion to be moved over a period of almost two decades, with 897 of those transactions made by Cypriot banks....

164. Defendants acquitted in teen’s overdose death

A Limassol criminal court has acquitted two more defendants in a teen overdose death back in 2018, saying prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence proving them guilty of manslaughter...

165. Pompeo 'deeply concerned' over eastern Med

The United States remains 'deeply concerned' about Turkey's actions in the eastern Mediterranean, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, urging a diplomatic end to a simmering crisis over offshore natural resources...

166. Passports under the watchful eye of the Commission

167. Russia’s top diplomat visits Cyprus

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is flying to the Republic of Cyprus on Monday where a new agreement is expected to be signed on the avoidance of double taxation between the two countries...

168. US urges everyone to stand down in East Med

The United States is urging “everyone to stand down” in ongoing disputes about drilling and maritime rights in the East Mediterranean, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday...

169. Washington lifts Cyprus arms embargo

Washington has announced a partial lifting of a decades-old arms embargo to the Republic of Cyprus, with Turkey saying the decision ignores equality and balance between the two sides on the divided island...

170. Cyprus takes a stab at Al Jazeera 'propaganda'

The daily publication of reports by the foreign media network Al Jazeera targeting the Cyprus citizenship-for-investment programme after gaining possession of over 1,400 leaked documents has sent the Cyprus government rushing to set the record straight....

171. Beirut blast has eerie connections to Cyprus

Following Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Lebanon, some eerie connections began to emerge in Cyprus, including a Russian national based in Limassol and a Hezbollah-related arrest on the island back in 2015...

172. Two extradited from Cyprus to face US justice

The Republic of Cyprus has extradited two alleged cyber criminals to the United States, including a young man who is the first Cypriot national to be extradited under an extradition treaty with the US...

173. US ambassador sees opportunities in Cyprus

US Ambassador to Nicosia Judy Garber says the pandemic aftermath in Cyprus could be seen as an opportunity for the island, praising officials for managing the crisis and calling the country a “fantastic place for people” to do business...

174. Cyprus gets tough on golden passports

A House emergency bill that could allow authorities to revoke dozens of Republic of Cyprus “golden passports” is said to eliminate grey areas that so far prevented the state from revoking ill-gotten investor citizenships...

175. Cabinet approves stricter regulations for citizenship-by-investment scheme

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved new regulations to the citizenship-by-investment program, an important provision of which ties the program to anti-money laundering legislation, interior minister Nikos Nouris said. ...

176. Cyprus 'golden visa' scheme returns to spotlight

Cyprus’ controversial citizenship-by-investment scheme was thrust into the spotlight once again after the investigative journalism platform Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published an in-depth report on the granting of a ‘golden passport’ to a senior member of the Saudi royal family and six of his family members....

177. Need for transparency on COVID-19 public spending

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assmebly’s (OSCE PA) Special Representative on Fighting Corruption Irene Charalambides, has called for the highest levels of transparency and good governance on COVID-19 related public expenditures....

178. Cyprus irked over mystery casino probe

The Republic of Cyprus is asking the European Anti-Fraud Office for more information into a probe of misuse funds, following reports that stolen EU money was pumped into a casino project on the island...

179. Mixed reviews on anti-money laundering

A US State Department anti-money laundering report on Cyprus includes fewer negative references but still points to vulnerabilities in the island’s financial services and gaming sectors...

180. Interior Minister talks migration, Cyprus investment program with EU officials in Brussels

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris informed the EU Commission’s Vice-President Margaritis Schoinas on Cyprus’ needs and the issues the country faces in dealing with the increased flow of migrants, ahead of the presentation of relevant proposals by the Commission next month....