Golden passports trial delayed until December
The trial of ten people and companies, including former transport minister Marios Demetriades, in connection with the issuance of Cypriot passports to foreign nationals was adjourned for three months by the Nicosia criminal court on Monday.
It will pick up on December 19.
The defendants face charges relating to corruption, bribery, extortion, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
Eight of the defendants are individuals, the other two are companies.
The defendants are: Marios Demetriades, Andreas Demetriades, Demetris Demetriades, Giorgos Demetriades, Eleni Simillides, Jing Wang, Josef Friedrich Santin, Vasiliki Georgiou-Santin, Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC, and Delsk (Cyprus) Business Services Ltd.
They have pleaded not guilty.
Demetriades served under former president Nicos Anastasiades from 2014 to 2018. The interim findings of an investigation into the ‘golden passports’ scheme in 2021 found that a total of 137 naturalisations promoted by a law firm linked to Demetriades had been given the nod at cabinet meetings he had attended.
The former transport minister insists he is being scapegoated.
The criminal case was filed a year ago.
Demetriades is accused of meddling with the process of approving the granting of Cypriot citizenship to foreign nationals. The final say rested with the cabinet.
His family’s law firm is central to the case.
The other individuals in the dock include a foreign investor, a former functionary at the Cypriot embassy in China, and the latter’s husband.
As far back as September 2023, police had reason to believe suspicious dealings took place relating to the naturalisation of 19 foreign investors. A key role was played by a man married to an embassy employee.
The money paid by the interested parties – foreign investors seeking a Cypriot passport – passed through companies, and a part of it ended up with a certain individual.
News reports at the time said police believed that ‘commissions’ of up to 25 per cent were paid in this way. Police also tracked fake invoices.
Authorities began unraveling the affair while investigating the citizenship given to three individuals from Cambodia. It emerged that a married couple, and their adult son, gained Cypriot citizenship under false pretences. The law firm in question was involved in the process.