Dubious estate agents marring success of Golden Visa scheme

The performance and the reputation of the "Golden Visa" residence permit program in Greece are being tarnished by the presence of a number of companies that are of doubtful origin and solvency and have been active in the local market over the last couple of years despite lacking the necessary funds. More importantly, they have been linked to illegal activities such as tax evasion and money laundering.

Property market professionals with expertise in the Golden Visa program say that those companies operate outside the boundaries of the law and constitute a serious headache for lawful businesses, as the negative experiences of several investors in Greece has made them turn to other countries instead.

Vaggelis Kteniadis, chairman of property development company V2 Development, tells Kathimerini that "at the moment some 700-800 properties cannot be delivered to their new...