Government revokes two more passports

The government on Thursday said that it revoked the citizenship of two more individuals who had obtained the Cyprus passport through the citizenship-by-investment scheme.

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said the decision was taken by the cabinet. He did not name or otherwise identify the individuals whose citizenship was revoked.

Nouris said only that the move was in line with a standing decision by the cabinet.

“The necessary procedures having been adhered to, today the cabinet’s prior decision was confirmed in moving forward the revocation process.”

Previously, the government of Cyprus had stripped 222 wealthy investors and their family members of citizenship – part of efforts to mend a reputation sullied by a passports programme that an inquiry found had unlawfully granted citizenships in hundreds of instances.

The passport scheme generated more than €9 billion euros for the country as it reeled from a 2013 financial crisis that brought it to the verge of bankruptcy.

The government nixed the programme in late 2020, on the back of a series of reports by the Al Jazeera news network.