The criminal case against former Transport Minister Marios Demetriades in relation to “suspicious” naturalisations of new Cypriot citizens under Cyprus’ citizenship through investment scheme, commonly known as the ‘golden passport’ scheme, was on Friday adjourned until May.

Demetriades and nine other defendants, seven natural persons and two legal entities, will now appear in court on March 18 to be informed of the charges they face.

In total, they face 59 charges, related to bribery, extortion, conspiracy to defraud and corruption.

In court on Friday, the prosecution authority requested an additional two weeks of preparation time, so as to be able to deliver witness material which had been requested by the defence.

The material was described as “very voluminous”.

The defence agreed to allow the postponement, and the court thus approved the request, with the next hearing set for May 21.

Demetriades served under former President Nicos Anastasiades between 2014 and 2018, with the interim findings of an investigation into the ‘golden passport’ scheme in 2021 having found that a total of 137 naturalisations which had been promoted by a law firm linked to Demetriades had been given the nod at cabinet meetings he had attended.

He said in September that he is a scapegoat and that he was being targeted in the case.

“For three full years my personal, family and professional life has been thoroughly checked, as have all my political decisions [and] no fault was found,” he said.

“I have absolute trust in justice, knowing that in the end truth and justice always prevail,” he added.