Between 2008 and 2017, a total of 7,500 individuals obtained Cypriot citizenship through the investment programme, with the cabinet first becoming involved in 2021, a senior officer told the Nicosia criminal court on Wednesday.

Of that number 3,250 were investors and the rest members of their families.

Senior administrative officer at the interior ministry Christina Kaoulla had been head of the naturalisation control unit until the end of 2020. She had dealt with naturalisations since 2008, when she served in the Civil Registry Department, and in 2011 she was transferred to the administration of the interior ministry, where she performed duties related to the Cyprus Investment Programme.

Testifying in court, Kaoulla said she reviewed the “largest percentage” of applications between 2008 and 2017.

Kaoulla had handled two cases currently in court, those of the naturalisation of former chief of Russian multinational energy corporation Gazprom Nikolay Gornovskiy, and Almi Armoush and his daughter, Zaineh Armoush.

She will be cross-examined by the defence lawyers on Monday.

The criminal court is hearing the case of the two former MPs facing criminal charges over a report by Al Jazeera into the alleged illegal naturalisations of people as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, commonly known as the ‘golden passports scandal’.

Former House president Demetris Syllouris and former Akel MP Christakis Giovani are both facing charges including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official, in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.

In court, Kaoulla explained the procedure followed for applications.

She said an interior ministry officer checked that the accompanying documents were attached, without looking at their content, and that applicants paid a fee of €2,000, after which they were issued a receipt.

The procedure, she said, was the same for all cases, while for family members an application could be submitted after the investor’s citizenship was approved. Family members included spouse, children and parents, provided that they held permanent residence in Cyprus worth at least €500,000.

A 2020 amendment then included the investor’s in-laws.

The House was then informed of the interior ministry’s intention to grant citizenship. Kaoulla said the House president was not involved in the process.

In 2011, the finance ministry’s views were taken into consideration for approving an application and since 2019 the interior ministry relied exclusively on the finance ministry for the financial part.

In the event of a disagreement, the interior ministry would decide which direction to follow.

In 2021, the cabinet began reviewing the applications.

Meanwhile, in 2018, the investment programme was established and a supervisory committee was established, with representatives from the interior and finance ministries, and the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency.

The decision also determined that responsible declarations from the providers must be submitted along with the investor applications, as well as the code of conduct that the service providers had to adhere to.

According to the code of conduct, which was submitted as evidence, “any action aimed at influencing officials is expressly prohibited”.

Kaoulla said that officers “had to refrain from engaging in any activity that could be considered corrupt, unethical or illegal” and had to inform the applicant of any conflict of interest.

Eligible investors should have already invested a minimum of €2 million.

According to Kaoulla, up until 2015, applications took three months to be reviewed. After that, the time was increased to six months and in 2018-2019 it was increased to 11 months or more.

The minister or permanent secretary could request that applications be expedited, which happened in about 25 to 30 cases, Kaoulla said.

The prosecution then submitted three statements by Kaoulla to the police, concerning Nikolai Gornovski and Almi Armoush and his family.

In the Gornovski case, a transfer of €2,300,470 had been made to G. Pittatzis LLC. However, the money had not been paid to Giovani before the naturalisation was approved, a fact Kaoulla was not aware of at the time.

A violation of the code of conduct, Kaoulla said, would be sent to the oversight committee.

Although the applicant did not meet all the requirements and his application had been rejected, he reapplied and the case was taken to the cabinet, which approved it, Kaoulla said.

Regarding Almi Armoush, Kaoulla said service provider Fidescorp sent a fax in 2017 to allow the investor’s daughter to apply for naturalisation before the approval of the investor’s application.

Al Jazeera aired an almost hour-long exposé of the scandal in October 2020, prompting Syllouris and Giovanis to both resign.

In the documentary, undercover reporters played the role of agents acting on behalf of a fictional Chinese businessman with a criminal record, aiming to secure him Cypriot citizenship.

Syllouris, Giovanis and others were shown offering to help the man in his quest for citizenship despite his criminal record.

The government of the day then scrapped Cyprus’ citizenship by investment scheme, with the European Union having launched legal proceedings over claims the scheme had been used to sell passports to dubious individuals.

A subsequent inquiry found that 53 per cent of 6,779 citizenships granted through the scheme were unlawful, with the government since having commenced the process of cancelling the citizenship of some naturalised through the scheme.