The government insists that it is complying with rules governing its cash-for-passports scheme, as it again published one list showing both millionaires who had bought passports as well as those who qualified for Maltese citizenship through naturalisation.
The programme allows wealthy foreigners to become Maltese citizens for a one-off payment of €650,000, as well as a number of investments.
The list published by the government does not distinguish between those who bought their citizenship and those who gained it through long-term residence.
As was done last year, the government listed people granted citizenship in alphabetical order according to their first name rather than their surname. Observers say this makes it all the more difficult to identify the millionaires who purchased passports for one or more family members. By the end of July 2016, Identity Malta had approved 202 main applicants and 503 dependents under the scheme.
The IIP scheme in its original version stoked controversy in part due to a government proposal to keep the names of beneficiaries secret.
The confidentiality clause was later removed, and the government was forced by the European Commission to include a 12-month residence clause in order for applicants to establish a “genuine link” with the island.
Asked why people were listed alphabetically by first name rather than surname, as was the norm, a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said all legal requirements had been adhered to
Asked why the government listed people granted citizenship in alphabetical order by their first name rather than surname, as was the norm, a spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry said all legal requirements had been adhered to.
She said that the government was legally required to publish the names of all individuals who, in the previous 12 calendar months, had been granted Maltese citizenship, whether through the IIP scheme or naturalisation.
The Times of Malta reported in June that a number of millionaires who had applied for Maltese citizenship appeared to be living in modest flats in areas like Birżebbuġa, Mellieħa, St Paul’s Bay and Mġarr.
Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca touted the scheme’s easy residence requirements to potential clients.
In a report tabled in Parliament last year, the government rejected a suggestion by the scheme regulator that it might be better to stop publishing the names of all naturalised Maltese persons, including those buying their passport. The regulator expressed concerns that the publication of such information was possibly making applicants “shy away” from the scheme.
The Opposition has repeatedly criticised the government’s insistence on listing IIP applicants with those who acquired Maltese citizenship through naturalisation .
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has pledged that a Nationalist government would publish all the details of those obtaining Maltese citizenship through the cash-for-passports scheme.