The suspects in the first case relating to the controversial ‘Cyprus Citizenship by Investment Scheme’ were cleared of all charges by Larnaca Criminal Court on Friday.
Four legal entities and five individuals, including a prominent Larnaca lawyer and his business associates, stood trial for their involvement in granting Cypriot citizenship to an Iranian national who is on Interpol’s wanted list, as well as his parents, by presenting forged documents to authorities.
They faced a total of 36 charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, defrauding the state, forgery and circulation of false documents.
Specifically, the law firm and the service providers linked with it were accused of presenting false identity information to authorities in order to grant Cypriot citizenship to the Iranian, wanted by Interpol for fraud-related crimes and for embezzling large amounts of money.
The case was filed with Larnaca District Court on May 14 2021 and was based on the findings of an ad-hoc inquiry committee tasked to investigate Cyprus’ ‘golden passports scheme.’
The committee’s report accused the defendants of acting as intermediaries with the intent to subvert the state and illegally secure Cypriot citizenship for the three Iranians.
It is noted that the Court ordered to start criminal proceedings against the three Iranians, however authorities did not locate them.
