https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/syllouris-declines-questions-in-passport-probe
A former Cypriot parliamentary speaker secretly filmed in an expose on a now discredited cash-for-passports scheme declined to answer questions on Wednesday into his role in a scandal which rocked the island nation...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/director-wants-passport-probe-clear-his-name
A civil servant, whose name was dropped by the former House speaker during a secret video recording by Al Jazeera, says he did not get involved with golden passports during his tenure as director of the interior ministry, vowing to take legal action if an investigative committee failed to clear his name...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/interim-report-on-golden-passports-delivered
An interim report on the golden passport scandal in the Republic of Cyprus says just over half of citizenships granted by the executive branch were not approved lawfully...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-hurries-to-clean-up-company-registry
Energy Minister Natasa Pilides has called on business stakeholders in Cyprus to embrace a new effort of recording and updating true information about beneficiaries of companies, saying a new digital registry can bolster transparency on the island...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/backchannel-migration-approvals-probed
A man has accused the interior minister of approving visa extensions for a select number of foreign workers while rejecting others including his elderly mother’s helper, with reports pointing to a bigger scandal where rejected cases were being approved fraudulently through a channel involving a high price tag...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/damning-state-dep-report-highlights-cyprus-human-rights-issues
A US State Department country report on human rights practices in 2020 proved damning for Cyprus which was found to have had significant human rights issues last year....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/house-speaker-says-parliament-must-raise-its-standards
House Speaker Adamos Adamou said that Parliament has an obligation to raise its standards and improve its image to the public, who are turning away from politics and politicians and especially Parliament....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/comment/opinion/when-the-palace-lights-begin-to-dim
The testimonies of 2013, say that in those critical days of the savings levy, there was a crowd of people on the hill of the presidential palace....
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/dueling-small-parties-help-pass-budget
The House in the Republic of Cyprus approved a revision of the government’s 2021 state budget on Thursday, following a month of consultations between the administration and small opposition parties that offered additional amendments to the bill...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mps-vote-on-budget-hanging-by-a-thread
The House takes another vote on the state budget on Thursday, with representatives expected to pass the bill narrowly following behind-the-scenes consultations since the first time it was rejected in mid-December...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/top-editor-quits-over-anastasiades-claim
A renowned journalist and editor-in-chief at Kathimerini Cyprus has resigned his post amid backlash from a piece he wrote on Sunday, where he claimed Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades let slip information that he had been flying millions generated from golden passports to the Seychelles on private flights...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/kalogerou-probe-fails-to-impress-opposition
The chair of the ad hoc committee that looked into allegations of wrongdoing last year as Cyprus’ golden passports scandal was unfolding defended the choice to go after high profile cases, following criticism from opposition parties that say the focus was too narrow...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/folli-follie-report-unveils-17-year-scam
The troubled Folli Follie company’s major shareholders, the Koutsolioutsos family, reaped the benefits of a well-orchestrated fraud scheme that lasted for at least 17 years, under the nose of the supervisory authorities, generating hundreds of millions of euros in profits, according to an audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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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/news/blame-game-in-full-swing-after-budget-vote
The government in the Republic of Cyprus faced an unprecedented challenge on Thursday, after failing to pass a 2021 budget in the House, with lawmakers approving stopgap measures to keep making payments for the next couple of months...
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/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...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cabinet-shrinks-oversized-security-detail-for-vips
Party leaders and former state officials in the Republic of Cyprus will see their security detail downsized following a Cabinet decision on Thursday, also tasking police to evaluate the size of the presidential guard...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/auditor-general-makes-jiu-jitsu-move
The audit office is reportedly preparing an unflattering report on Cyprus’ film industry government scheme, with local media suggesting some type of possible connection between newly-established Olivewood and golden passports...
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/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/anti-corruption-measures-on-the-way-anastasiades-says
President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday he will be announcing new measures aiming to crack down on corruption next week.
...
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.
...
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/mps-reject-dissolution-of-parliament-amid-passports-scandal
After officially electing AKEL MP Adamos Adamou as the new House President following the resignation of Demetris Syllouris amid intense backlash against his involvement in the recent golden passports scandal, MPs on Thursday debated on whether parliament should be dissolved making way for early elections, with the proposal eventually rejected with 26 votes in favour and 30 against....
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/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...
