German Economic News | Posted: 8:01:14, 00:20 The ideal European is rich and homeless. According to these criteria, a British law firm is currently looking for new citizens from Malta, and the measly sum of 650,000 euros can buy a passport without a residence requirement. This is being done to flush money into a cash-strapped, ailing island. The British law firm Henley & Partners earns millions euros with a peculiar business. It was commissioned by the government of Malta, the island nation that wants to grow rich through making new citizens. This might mean up to 20,000 new ‘paper citizens’. These people do not even need to be resident in Malta. A payment of 650,000 euros is sufficient to obtain an EU passport. They can also apply for passports for their family members by paying 25,000-50,000 euros for each one. With the money it makes from this, Malta wants to set up a fund of one billion euros. The British lawyers receive approximately four percent of the revenue for their acquisition activity, or around 40 million euros. Henley & Partners will carry out a risk assessment on every passport applicant. The decision on citizenship will be taken by an official government agency. If the application is rejected, then the British receive no money. Many therefore see a significant conflict of interest with the consulting firm, as the EU Observer reports. “It is as if a teacher who corrects examination papers is told, ‘I’ll give you 26,000 euros for each student who passes,” says Jason Azzopardi, a member of parliament.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:48:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015