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September 08 2024 07:31 by PCLMedia
 
An associate of former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has been charged in Cyprus in connection with alleged corruption in the country’s controversial 'golden passports' scheme. Jing Wang, whose Maltese company employed Muscat as a consultant for passport and residency visa schemes, is a defendant in a corruption case involving former Cypriot Minister Marios Demetriades.

Payments made to Muscat by Wang’s company have been flagged as “suspicious” in Malta, with authorities citing the “vague” nature of the consultancy agreement. Wang owns Delsk, a global investment company that specializes in selling Malta’s ‘golden visas’ to wealthy Chinese nationals through its licensed local agents, Destination Europe. This scheme grants applicants a Maltese residency permit and visa-free travel across the EU.

Destination Europe’s director and shareholder, Josef Friedrich Santin, along with Delsk Cyprus, are among those charged in the Cyprus corruption case. In response, all decisions on residency applications submitted by Destination Europe have been put on hold pending clarification of the case, according to a spokesperson for Malta’s residency scheme regulator.

Muscat’s lawyer, Charlon Gouder, is listed as the licensed agent for Destination Europe, though a spokesperson from the Residency Malta agency emphasized that agent licensing decisions are made by its sister agency, Community Malta. A Destination Europe representative asserted that the company has no involvement in the Cyprus case and does not conduct business activities there.

Muscat distanced himself from the matter, stating he has no business relationship with any companies involved in Cyprus and no knowledge of the case. The former prime minister is also facing separate corruption charges in Malta related to a controversial hospital privatization deal overseen by his government.

Former Cypriot Transport Minister Marios Demetriades has been indicted on charges of corruption, bribery, and money laundering linked to Cyprus's now-defunct ‘golden passports’ scheme, which was terminated in November 2020 amid widespread allegations of corruption. Malta, which operates a similar scheme, is under pressure from the European Commission to end its program.

Wang and a relative of Demetriades are accused of submitting “fake invoices” to a Cypriot bank to justify a €3.6 million transaction to JWPegasus, a company owned by Wang. Prosecutors allege that JWPegasus received €2.5 million after Demetriades agreed to expedite the citizenship application of a Chinese national. These events occurred before Muscat began working as a consultant for Wang’s Maltese company.

Wang has denied any wrongdoing, stating that the €3.6 million transfer between his companies was lawful. His spokesperson maintained that Wang would contest the charges in court and expressed confidence in the Cypriot judicial system.

Muscat was hired by Wang’s Maltese company, JWP Malta, in December 2020 on a €5,900 monthly contract to oversee global developments in residency and citizenship programs and to liaise with relevant authorities. Financial documents reviewed by Times of Malta flagged the payments as suspicious, raising concerns about the consultancy’s vague nature and Muscat’s potential to leverage his political connections to influence residency programs in Malta.

Muscat, who resigned as Prime Minister in January 2020, said he is aware of the scrutiny he faces as a politically exposed person but rejected any suggestion of impropriety. Wang’s spokesperson praised Muscat’s role in the company’s growth and marketing strategies, particularly in promoting Malta’s residence program in Asian markets.

A magisterial inquiry into Muscat’s government has recommended an investigation into payments he received post-resignation to determine any links to governmental actions during his time in office. Sources suggest Wang had previously lobbied Muscat’s administration to cancel a 2016 contract granted to a rival company, which restricted Wang’s business in the lucrative Chinese market.

Industry insiders report that many wealthy Chinese nationals use Malta’s residency scheme as a backup plan, offering visa-free EU travel without needing to reside in Malta full-time. The scheme has been highly profitable for local service providers and indirectly beneficial for the government.

Public records indicate that Wang’s application for a Maltese passport was refused in 2015, but he later obtained a Cypriot passport. Muscat cited this refusal as evidence of the integrity of Malta’s citizenship program, while Wang’s spokesperson asserted that all actions taken by Wang and his companies comply with the law.

This article was produced with support from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, with contributions from Kyriakos Pieridis of the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network (CIReN) and was published first at Times of Malta.
 

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