A total of 26 Cypriot law firms have been audited by the Cyprus Bar Association in connection with the disgraced golden passport scheme, with 16 found guilty and slapped with non-compliance fines.
This is what the Pancyprian Bar Association said in a statement on the occasion of the visit to Cyprus of EU Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders.
The Association also said its aim is to continue to successfully fulfil the important role it is called upon to perform as a supervisory authority.
As regards the now-scrapped investment programme, supervisory inspections which began in October 2020 covered 26 offices.
Specifically, four offices have been served with an indictment, five have been served with a guilty verdict and three have been served with a penalty.
In addition, two have had a report prepared and are being studied by the Supervision and Compliance Department for possible presentation at the next board meeting, and two have a pending criminal case.
For 10 offices the cases have been closed and no offences appear to have been committed.
The highest fine imposed was €79,000 for a range of charges relating to non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation. This office had submitted 161 naturalisation applications between 2013 and 2020.
