Five years after Cyprus scrapped its disgraced Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), the scandal surrounding its so-called golden passports continues to haunt the island.
What was once marketed as an economic lifeline became a stain on Cyprus’ credibility, leaving behind a trail of stalled investigations, courtroom battles and institutional failures.
Despite the programme’s official abolition in November 2020, its legacy remains alive in courtrooms, police case files and international headlines. The numbers alone reveal the sheer scale of the crisis:
- 195 cases under active investigation since 2021
- 26 individuals already charged in court
- 306 people stripped of Cypriot citizenship, including investors and dependents
- Investigations dragging on for up to four years due to cross-border deadlocks
The scandal has left Cyprus struggling not only with the practicalities of justice, but also with the erosion of trust in its institutions and its tarnished reputation within the European Union.
How Cyprus sold golden passports
The Golden Passports Scheme was introduced in 2007 and expanded after the 2013 banking collapse, when Cyprus faced a financial meltdown. Under its terms, wealthy foreigners could obtain a Cypriot – and therefore EU – passport by investing at least €2 million in real estate, businesses or government bonds.
For years, the scheme brought in billions. But it also attracted controversy, with critics warning it was open to abuse and ripe for exploitation by politically exposed persons, criminals and individuals with questionable backgrounds.
The turning point came in October 2020, when Al Jazeera released an undercover investigation exposing high-level corruption, including politicians willing to help criminals secure Cypriot passports. Within weeks, the government axed the programme.
Investigations: big numbers, slow progress
Since 2021, police have examined 195 cases linked to suspicious naturalisations. Yet, according to official sources, only seven have been fully investigated, with just four resulting in criminal charges.
One major case, involving eight defendants including a lawyer and his firm, collapsed entirely in 2022 when the Larnaca Criminal Court acquitted all accused. The Attorney General has since appealed, and a retrial has been ordered.
Police spokesperson Kyriaki Lambrianidou acknowledges the difficulties: “These are highly complex cases, with massive amounts of documentation. In some instances, a single complaint involves up to 30 different investors.”
She added that international barriers remain a major stumbling block. Requests for judicial cooperation, particularly to Asian jurisdictions where many investors originate, are often ignored. Some requests have been pending for up to four years.
Cross-border deadlocks
This lack of cooperation is more than a bureaucratic hurdle – it is paralysing prosecutions. Without access to overseas financial records, corporate documents or witness testimony, Cypriot investigators are unable to build airtight cases.
Police have resorted to sending reminders to foreign authorities, but responses remain slow or non-existent. The result: a mountain of stalled files sitting in police archives, unable to move forward.
High-profile trials, political fallout
The scandal has already drawn several prominent figures into the dock:
- Marios Demetriades, former Transport Minister, is among ten defendants facing 59 charges including bribery, conspiracy and money laundering.
- Demetris Syllouris, former Speaker of Parliament, and ex-MP Christakis Giovanis are standing trial after being caught on camera in the Al Jazeera exposé. In July 2025, the court ruled there was sufficient evidence for them to answer the charges.
- Lawyers, developers and corporate service providers are also facing cases involving forgery, fraud and tax evasion.
But convictions are rare. The courts have acquitted several high-profile defendants, while other cases have collapsed under the weight of insufficient evidence.
Institutional failures exposed
Perhaps most damning are the findings of two official inquiries: the Kalogirou Report (2020) and the Nikolatos Report (2021).
Both concluded that 53% of naturalisations were unlawful, often involving family members of investors who did not meet the criteria. Some investors were flagged as high-risk – with criminal convictions, ongoing investigations or even international arrest warrants.
Former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Dimitra Kalogirou, who led both investigations, is unequivocal: “The problem was not the programme itself, but the absence of supervision. Oversight was non-existent – and that created fertile ground for abuse.”
Citizenship revocations: a belated cleanup
The Ministry of Interior has moved to strip citizenship from hundreds of individuals. Since 2021, the Cabinet has approved the revocation of 306 passports, including 88 investors and 218 family members.
The process is slow and legally complex. Each individual must be notified in writing, given a chance to appeal, and only then formally stripped of their passport and ID. To date, just 112 revocations have been finalised.
“We cannot afford to repeat this”
Kalogiou insists that the CIP itself was not inherently flawed – describing it as a necessary measure after the 2013 financial crisis. The failure, she argues, was the total lack of oversight.
“Any future investment programme must come with strong and transparent supervision. Otherwise, Cyprus risks repeating the same mistakes. The Cypriot passport is also an EU passport – and that makes this an issue of European security as well as credibility.”
A lingering stain on Cyprus’ reputation
The citizenship scandal has left Cyprus facing years of legal, political and reputational damage. It has exposed deep weaknesses in oversight, undermined public confidence in institutions, and left the country under scrutiny from its European partners.
What began as a scheme to attract investment has instead become a case study in how quick fixes can turn into long-term crises.
For Cyprus, the golden passports era may be over. But the shadow it casts – in courtrooms, in government files, and in the eyes of Europe – will not disappear anytime soon.
