A monitoring committee set up to scrutinise the process of selling Maltese citizenship to wealthy non-EU individuals has not met once since it was established last year.
Times of Malta is informed that the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the committee, has not yet set any date for the committee to meet.
The news comes after the government recently announced it was processing some 200 applications for Maltese citizenship.
The majority of applicants were Chinese and Russian citizens
The committee was set up last year and, apart from the Prime Minister, includes the Home Affairs Minister and the Opposition leader.
Dr Muscat had told Parliament in November that he wanted the programme to be monitored to ensure the whole system was fully scrutinised.
However, although possible meetings of the monitoring committee were mentioned various times in Parliament, the government has not yet convened a meeting.
Asked to state how many committee meetings were held so far and whether it would be meeting soon, a Home Affairs Ministry spokeswoman declined to reply.
This newspaper is also informed that a ring-fenced fund, which was supposed to receive and administer the proceeds from the citizenship scheme, has not yet been set up.
Proceeds from the cash-for-citizenship scheme are expected to be channelled into this fund, administered by an independent board of trustees, so that money can be used for specific purposes.
Although some applications have reached an advanced stage and are in due diligence phase, the fund is still in abeyance.
Jonathan Cardona, head of Identity Malta – the government’s agency coordinating the citizenship scheme – recently told Times of Malta that the government had already received 200 applications for Maltese citizenship and that 16 had already progressed to the second stage.
However, both Mr Cardona and the ministry are now refusing to give further details.
Asked to specify the nationality of the applicants and how many were dependents, Mr Cardona declined to give any information. The Home Affairs Ministry has also remained silent on the matter.
Ironically, Henley & Partners – the foreign company entrusted by the government to sell Maltese citizenship – yesterday told EU Observer that the majority of applicants were Chinese and Russian citizens.
According to the government’s scheme, main applicants will be able to buy Maltese citizenship and obtain an EU passport by paying €650,000 and investing in bonds and property on the island totalling €1.15 million.
However, the law allows main applicants to buy citizenship for an unlimited number of dependents, including children, spouses and parents. These will only have to pay €25,000 each to acquire a Maltese passport.