The consultants contracted to vet foreigners wanting to buy Maltese citizenship would receive a commission for every sale, placing them in a conflict of interest situation, Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco said.

“I asked the Parliamentary Secretary for the Economy, Edward Zammit Lewis, yesterday [Thursday] to deny that Henley & Partners will be working on a commission basis and instead of denying it he asked what is wrong with them receiving a commission,” Dr de Marco said yesterday.

He argued this would constitute a clear conflict of interest for the consultants, who were basically in charge of promoting the proposed individual investor programme scheme overseas and conducting the due diligence exercise at the same time.

Although Dr de Marco admitted he did not know the extent of the commission, he said it could range between 15 and 20 per cent.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had already confirmed his attendance at a Miami conference aimed at promoting the scheme, even though Parliament had not even started debating the relevant Bill.

Other attendees at the Miami conference will be the Caribbean islands St Kitts, Antigua and the Dominican Republic. Dr de Marco said that, through the Bill as proposed, Malta would be placed at a par with “Caribbean tax havens”.

This is wrong and will dent Malta’s reputation abroad

He envisaged problems with the EU, pointing out that Montenegro, an EU applicant country that offered a similar scheme, came under pressure and had to suspend the scheme when it sold citizenship to a former Prime Minister of Thailand who had been convicted of serious crime.

When asked whether the PN would be taking the matter to the European level, he was cautious. “Let’s take things one step at a time,” he said.

The party spokesman on home affairs, Jason Azzopardi, questioned the “hastiness” with which the Government wanted to enact this new law, which is slated for discussion on Monday to be approved by Wednesday.

“Is this the respect Parliament deserves,” he asked.

“We are selling our country cheaply and we do not need this, especially because the county’s reputation, which we strived so hard to build, is at stake,” he said.

Dr de Marco said the Opposition was against the concept of “the sale of Maltese citizenship” but said the party favoured other options that granted limited citizenship to serious foreign individuals wanting to invest in Malta.

“It is clear that the Government simply wants to make a quick buck by offering instant Maltese citizenship for sale. This is wrong and will dent Malta’s reputation abroad,” he said.

According to the Bill, foreigners will be able to buy Maltese citizenship for €650,000. They would be able to buy citizenship for their spouses and dependents for an additional €25,000 per person.

In a reply, the Government said applicants investing in Maltese citizenship would be effectively scrutinised in the most serious of manners. It specified it would be Identity Malta and not Henley that would take the final decision on whether somebody qualified for citizenship or not.

No mention was made about the commission claim.

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