Cyprus ‘golden passports’ scheme a laundering risk, says watchdog

A European money laundering watchdog has cautioned that a secretive investment-for-passports program run by Cyprus was vulnerable to money laundering and fraught with risk.
The Mediterranean island launched the scheme offering passports for an investment in 2013, with more than 3,000 people gaining citizenship through the program.
A committee of experts from the Council of Europe, known as MONEYVAL, said in a report released on Wednesday that, although Cyprus had broadly taken measures to mitigate key money laundering risks, the risk of vulnerabilities in the investment program had increased "exponentially" via real estate, the investment vehicle of choice.
"These risks have not been properly mitigated," it said. "The risks related to the Cyprus Investment Program have not been assessed comprehensively."
Although it did not elaborate, real estate is broadly...