Henley & Partners CEO Eric Major says his firm has helped people gain Austrian citizenship. Photo: Jason BorgHenley & Partners CEO Eric Major says his firm has helped people gain Austrian citizenship. Photo: Jason Borg

Henley & Partners claimed yesterday it had helped clients gain Austrian citizenship, but dec­lined to clarify the level of investment needed.

“I will simply reiterate what I previously quoted: Henley has helped people gain Austrian citizenship under Article 10 Paragraph 6 of the StbG [Austrian Citizenship Act]. Full stop,” CEO Eric Major told Times of Malta.

His curt message was in response to e-mails asking for details on whether his ‘residence and citizenship planning’ firm had ever helped anyone gain Austrian citizenship through investment, and how this was done.

The government and its supporters have consistently cited Austria in defence of the Individual Investor Programme, which will grant Maltese citizenship in return for €1.15 million in fees and investments.

The Austrian Embassy in Malta has categorically denied the country has ever operated a citizenship-by-investment scheme.

Mr Major was referring in his e-mail to a provision that has been part of Austrian law since 1965, some 30 years before the country joined the EU.

It states that citizenship can be granted to someone who has performed, and will continue to perform, “extraordinary services” to benefit the State.

In summer 2011 the procedure was revised and no citizenships have been granted in this way for two-and-a-half years.

Only in very exceptional circumstances does it apply to entrepreneurs

Erik Dreymann, consul of the Austrian Embassy in Malta, explained that “extraordinary services” could be defined as “exceptional performances which can’t be provided by others of the same education level and serve the public interest to a certain degree”.

He added that, although not specifically mentioned, the provision primarily applied to scientists, researchers, athletes, recognised artists and cultural performers.

“Only in very exceptional circumstances does it apply to entrepreneurs,” he said.

Last week, Maltese government officials circulated a chart to MEPs ahead of a vote in the European Parliament which claimed Austria grants citizenship in return for investment of more than €3 million.

The government has repeatedly said Malta was being unfairly singled out in the EU as other countries – notably Austria – have similar schemes.

Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he had “no doubt” that Austria had a similar programme to the IIP.

Mr Major added in his e-mail that he felt questions on Austria had “no bearing on the situation in Malta”.

He ignored a question asking if the government’s portrayal of Austria was a reflection of the advice it had received from Henley.

He also failed to respond when asked to comment on reports that former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was not interested in purchasing Maltese citizenship, contrary to earlier leaks.

Mr Villeneuve’s manager Rick Gorne informed this newspaper yesterday that his client is “not considering Maltese citizenship.”

“A specialist lawyer may have looked into this [IIP] as part of a third party enquiry but nothing more,” Mr Gorne said.

A Henley & Partners brochure in February 2012 was offering to help clients obtain Austrian citizenship in return for an investment of at least $10 million, according to a Reuters article published that month.

In that same article, Mr Major was quoted as saying that candidates could obtain Austrian passports through investment if they had “all the right trimmings”.

“It’s been done. It’s possible but it’s fairly rare,” Mr Major had said.

The Austrian Embassy in Washington DC described Henley’s claims in that article as “baseless”.

Henley won a tender to devise, implement and administer much of the Maltese scheme.

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