Joseph Mizzi, CEO of the Malta Citizenship Agency, told the Times of Malta that his agency had obtained citizenship through Malta’s citizenship-by-investment programme, through the 24-year-old son of Russian businessman Vladimir Anatolyevich Kuksov, Semen Kuksov. passport cancellation He stated that it was discussed.
Semen Kuksov in a UK court in February 14 milyon EuroHe was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison after admitting to laundering cash on . Both father Vladimir and son Semen were granted Maltese citizenship in 2022, just weeks before the Mediterranean island nation is set to join the MEIN policy – a policy of banning Russian citizens from Golden Visa programmes.
In accordance with Article 13 of the Maltese citizenship law, if a person who has acquired citizenship under the MEIN policy is sentenced to imprisonment of 12 months or more within seven years of acquiring citizenship, the Minister shall may have their citizenship revoked.
However, it is not necessary for Malta to revoke the citizenship of a naturalised person by imprisonment (or even a conviction): earlier this year, a similar example was taken when the US Treasury took action to terminate the citizenship of an Israeli citizen who was identified as having developed spyware that was privately shared with the US Treasury.
Countries that grant citizenship by investment typically go to great lengths to screen applicants to prevent undesirables from gaining citizenship and jeopardizing the reputation and integrity of the programs. As far as the newspaper could tell, Kuksov had no previous criminal record.
