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A total of 1,532 applicants have acquired citizenship in Malta through the Golden Passport scheme, known as the Individual Investor Program, since 2014, the Minister for National Security Byron Camilleri has said.
The Minister revealed that wealthy internationals from Asia, Europe, North and South America, the Oceana and the Caribbean as well as the Gulf States benefited the most from this scheme, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
A report provided by Times Malta noted that a total of €27.8 million in revenue from the Golden passport program were received by the National Development and Social Fund, thus taking the total amount of proceeds since its establishment to just under €600 million.
In 2020 amid the spread of the Coronavirus and its new variants, the total assets of the fund surged by a total of 4.82 per cent, up from €570.58 million registered in 2019 to €598.10 million in 2020. It has been emphasized that the total assets also included €364.96 million held in international and domestic financial investments, a total of €1.48 million in heritage assets as well as €227.19 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Malta’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) offers wealthy foreign investors the opportunity to acquire citizenship if they meet specific conditions and make an investment of about 1 million euros ($970,000).
Still, even though the scheme made a significant contribution to the economic sector, it has often been in the spotlight for permitting many unlawful acts to happen.
In September last year, the European Commission announced that it would take Malta to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), after reports that it was linked to illegal affairs, including corruption, tax evasion and money laundering.
The Commission estimated that granting EU citizenship in return for pre-determined payments without a genuine link to European Union countries goes against the bloc’s laws.
“The Commission considers that granting EU citizenship in return for pre-determined payments or investments without any genuine link to the Member State concerned is not compatible with the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union, and with the concept of Union citizenship, as provided for in Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,” the Commission noted in a statement.
The European Commission called on Maltese authorities several times to abolish the Golden Passport Scheme. Besides, on October 20, it addressed a formal notice to Malta, urging the country’s authorities to terminate the program as soon as possible. Malta received another similar letter on June 9, 2021, while on April 6 last year, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Malta.
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