Supreme court quashes law firm’s bid to stop passport investigation

An unnamed law firm being investigated as part of the investment for passports scandal has had its request to tackle a police search warrant quashed by the supreme court.

According to daily Phileleftheros, the court recently cited police and an investigate committee’s findings that a series of irregular and seemingly illegal activities took place under the investment scheme.

It made mention of a “big law firm” which sought, unsuccessfully, to tackle a search warrant which saw police confiscate electronic devices and data.

It also found that some applications were not properly filled out, some were certified without the applicant being present, others hid their links to businesses while others kept secret that they were facing serious criminal charges in their country of origin.

There are further claims that the sum paid by some investors to secure a passport, about 25 per cent, was returned to the person’s country, seemingly to the investor and done so in a suspicious manner.

Elsewhere, police chief Stelios Papatheodorou on Friday is to update Attorney General Giorgos Savvides and his deputy of the process so far, where the latter are due to give orders as to how to proceed.