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Attorney General appoints investigative committee to probe citizenships by investment

07/09/2020 16:34

Cyprus Attorney General Giorgos Savvides appointed on Monday a four-member committee that will investigate all citizenships granted between 2007 and 2020 as part of a state scheme to attract investment.

In a statement to the media, Savvides said that the committee will be headed by former supreme court president Myron Nicolatos. Former Supreme Court judge Costas Pambalis, Deputy Auditor-General Kyriacos Kyriacou and Financial Ombudsman Pavlos Ioannou are the other three members of the committee.

The committee will investigate whether all laws, criteria and conditions in force at the time had been applied when the citizenships were granted between 2007 and August 17, 2020.

According to Savvides, it will have to complete its probe within three months though it can ask for an extension if necessary.

A Cyprus Presidency press release issued last week said that Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades would propose to the Attorney General the appointment of the committee that would conduct an investigation as regards the Investment Programme on terms to be set by the Attorney General.

Anastasiades said in an interview with AFP last Friday that the Republic of Cyprus has begun the process of stripping seven people of Cypriot citizenship granted through the Cyprus Investment Program after a special committee found them in violation of current stricter criteria.

Τhe Cyprus Audit Office also announced on August 28 that it would launch a probe on Government`s Investment Programme which came under fierce criticism especially following reports by Al Jazeera. The Government described Al Jazeera`s stories as a propaganda to harm Cyprus politically and economically.