Jho Low’s Cyprus passport to be revoked - report

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): Along with 25 other individuals Jho Low will have his Cypriot password withdrawn, confirms Cyprus.

The scheme for obtaining citizenship that Jho Low utilised is suspected to be a secret route to EU residency for global elites.

The Financial Times reports that the Cypriot government said there was inadequate risk assessment in the past, which will be rectified.

Cyprus interior minister, Constantinos Petrides, said the Cyprus cabinet stressed the need for “strict adherence to the terms and conditions” of the initiative which has, to date, granted citizenship to around 4,000 people.

“If there were nine investment cases, concerning 26 people, among 4,000 applications, it is logical that some would be problematic when controls weren’t strict,” Petrides was quoted as saying.

“There were mistakes — it was a mistake not to have criteria, for instance, for high-risk persons.”

The timeline of events put Low as having obtained the passports after the global news of the 1MDB financial scandal had broken, which drew attention to the path to citizenship by the Cyprus government.

It was reported yesterday that Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said Malaysian investigators uncovered information that Low had attempted to purchase property in Cyprus.