When Al Jazeera Makes a Difference
Under the CIP, applicants could legally obtain an EU passport for a 2.5m euro investment. For years, the Cypriot government said that no one convicted of a serious crime was able to get one. Our London-based enablers arranged a week-long series of meetings for Billy and Angie in Cyprus. They were taken on tours around the island, plied with views and seafood, presented with luxury homes, lucrative investment opportunities and creative ways for a convicted criminal to circumvent restrictions on him obtaining a passport. High-ranking politicians, property developers and lawyers advised us to use various money- laundering techniques to bypass these regulations by creating shell companies and placing the corrupt funds in the name of the applicant’s wife. We learned the unofficial rules: the trickier the case, the higher the price. The fee discussed by our enabler was $14m. The passport given to our Chinese investor would bear a new name that erased his criminal past. He would be free to travel and invest anywhere around the world. And buy an English football club.
The impact of the revelations in The Cyprus Papers Undercover came swiftly. Enraged Cypriots took to the streets calling for the resignations of the politicians implicated in the investigation. The second most powerful politician in Cyrpus, as well as a prominent MP, resigned their posts. An emergency cabinet meeting was called a day after the film aired. The government said that the CIP had been abolished. The Cyprus’ Attorney General announced three criminal investigations into evidence revealed in the investigation. European Union commissioners watched the documentary “in disbelief.” A week later, members of the European parliament launched legal proceedings against Cyprus. MEP Sophie In ‘T Veld said in parliament, “Why did the authorities wait for so long to intervene? Why did we have to wait for brave journalists to uncover the scandals that we all suspected for a long time?”
Al Jazeera was credited with cleaning up Cyprus and showing its citizens what they had suspected for years. On Twitter there was widespread recognition: “What the EU couldn’t do for years, @ AJEnglish @AJIUnit seems to have achieved in months.” Al Jazeera is more than just a news network. It makes a difference.
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