Government denies Henley will pocket €140,000 for each passport application
Government denies Henley & Partners will earn €140,000 from each passport application.
29 October 2013, 12:00am
Jurgen Balzan
Jurgen Balzan
1 min read
Government tonight denied that Henley & Partners, the company which will handle the applications of wealthy foreigners interested in obtaining a Maltese passport against a payment of €650,000 will earn up to €140,000 from each application.
Home affairs minister Manuel Mallia "categorically denied" Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi's claims that the concessionaire is set to pocket a to €140,000 commission for each application.
"As usual the opposition MP jumped to gthe wrong conclusion without making the necessary research. These actions are either down to political immaturity or with an intent to hinder the programme which will benefit the Maltese economy," the government statement said.
It added that the opposition was resorting to the same scaremongering tactics it used before the March election, because the PN was envious of the government's proactive policies which will reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
Yesterday evening, Azzopardi reiterated the opposition's criticism of the Indivisual Investor Programme, which could see foreign millionaires pay €650,000 for a passport, without residing permanently in Malta
In recent weeks, the Nationalist Party has insisted that it did not oppose the concept, however it would only vote in favour of the scheme if this is directly linked to long-term investment by applicants which would create jobs and foster economic growth.
The opposition has also expressed its concerns over the quality of persons who would be interested in applying for the scheme, which could put Malta's reputation as a financial services centre at stake.
Divesting himself from Parliamentary privilege, opposition MP Jason Azzopardi said that the concessionaire Henley & Partners, chosen by the government as the Individual Investor Programme's sole promoter, would pocket a €140,000 commission from government for every approved application apart from a further €100,000 from the applicants themselves.
Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.
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@EUWATCH: Banana republic was created under your PN Government when your Foreign Minister granted citizenzhip to Rahtar Aliyev. How much money was paid in this case and TO WHOM. That is the question you should ask and not downgrade your Country to a banana republic when the present Government is trying to eliminate all the bananas your PN left us hanging with. @spa2130: The Government has stated that Henley will get 4%. You have been answered that right but how much money was paid underhandedly in the oil corruption scandal, and to whom. The lack of minutes of the purchasing committee for years and years were one major cause that EUWATCH may be right that we WERE, just WERE, a banana republic.
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Here we go again. I hope this will not turn out to be another Maltese scandal of some sort. We already have enough of those to go around. The sad part is that these people get away with whatever they do. Bribes and deceit is a trademark of some Maltese but somehow or other they seem to always get away with it, mostly through politics and sometimes through Presidential Pardons. Did President Abela really offer that pardon to Mr Farrugia or was it the Prime Minister that did? If the government has nothing to hide why don't they come up with the right figure that Henley & Partners would be getting? I wonder if there are any Maltese Citizens within that company? Silent or not silent. Anyway I hope you get the point.
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Would any independent (very important this) financial practitioner conversant with the matter stand up and speak up? We want the truth and nothing else.
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Will the Government tell us how much Henley & Partners will actually be getting? The people have a right to know how much it is paying for this service.
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It is sad and amazing to see how this government has reduced the country from being a respected European members state to be Europe's banana republic (without growing bananas ...yet) in only 8 months time. The scheme and the handling of it is so downgrading that it is hard to understand how the proud Maltese people can accept it and let it happen. Very interesting that the minister seems completely incapable of informing the public about the ACTUAL fees to be paid Henley & Partners- does he know ?
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i wonder how the pn keep lying and dont get the facts right before opening their mouths ,considering they lost the election because of the deceit and the lying.keep it up and the 36000 keep adding up.thanks,
