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Updated | ‘Golden passport’ concessionaire Henley to take 4% commission
Opposition calls for transparency on commissions to be paid to IIP promoter
30 October 2013, 12:00am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
2 min read
Jason Azzopardi
Opposition spokesperson on home affairs Jason Azzopardi has called on the government to publish a contract with concessionaire Henley & Partners, who have been exclusively contracted to promote government's 'citizenship by investment' scheme.
The IIP (Individual Investment Programme) will sell Maltese citizenship to applicants and their dependants for €650,000, but Jason Azzopardi claims that Henley will be receiving €140,000 for each application. Home affairs minister Manuel Mallia has denied the sum.
"This is nothing but playing with words," Azzopardi said. "The PN is referring to approved applications, and not to a sum paid for every application forwarded to the government."
In a statement, the home affairs ministry said Henley would be paid a 4% contribution on marketing and processing expenses, and that this rate could not possibly reach €140,000 as claimed by Azzopardi.
In an extract of the contract published by the ministry, it was revealed that of the €650,000 application fee paid into the IIP account, 6% would be paid to the government agency Identity Malta, 4% will be paid to the concessionaire Henley, and the remaining 90% passed into the national development fund that will be created as an investment vehicle for the money received from the IIP.
As concessionaire, Henley is solely licensed to promote the IIP and conduct due diligence through licensed agencies or those companies currently licensed by the MFSA to sell Malta's global residence programme.
"If the minister is to believed, he should publish the contract with Henley, which is selling Maltese citizenship on the cheap and which will pay Henley for a commission on any citizenship it sells," Azzopardi said.
The Nationalist party does not agree with the IIP, unless it is tied to some form of tangible investment or job-creating endeavor.
Azzopardi also called into question Henley's conflict of interest, saying that the concessionaire was interested in seeing that its recommended applicants are given a passport so that it can be paid a commission. "Mallia wants us to believe that Henley will be preventing its own customers from securing Maltese citizenship... he is not realizing that both him and Prime Minister are putting Malta's reputation at risk."
The government plan to sell Maltese citizenship to the world's super-rich lacks any form of transparency or accountability because the VIPs who buy a passport will not have their names published in the government gazette, and home affairs minister Manuel Mallia will be granted discretionary powers to award citizenship to applicants facing so called "politically motivated" charges.
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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@ elkajboj: Il-fibbra morali li certu nies jikdbu kienet u tibqa hemm. Per ezempju jidher car mill-kitba tieghek li int ma tellajt xejn lill-dan il-Gvern u qieghed tikteb hekk ghaliex il-kuzjenza tniggzek fuq il-korruzzjoni sfrenata li int u l-partit tieghek kontu taghmlu fil-25 sena li iggvernajtu. Issa qed tipprova tistahba ta' Laburist u terga twahhal fil-PL. Iddahhakniex!! Ir-risposta ta' 4% taghhielkom u Jason, il-habib tieghek kellu jibla il-gideb kollu li qal. Lill-Alijev kontu il-Gvern taghkom li tajtuh citadinanza Maltija izda Jason ma tkellem xejn ghax minjaf kemm imxew arloggi tal-lira!! Din zgur mhix fibbra morali. Il-kmandament ta' Alla jghidlek la tigdibx. Mela hares lejn il-kuxjenza tieghek, u ara s' sa taghmel.
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Will Jason Azzopardi apologize for having misled parliament and the Maltese people when stating that Henley & Partners would be getting €140,000 on each citizenship approved by government ?? The government has published that part of the contract which mentions the commission to be paid to Henley & Partners, which is 4%, which comes to around €26,000 !!!
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zelqa ohra ta jason, hlief taqa ghan nejk mintiex.
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'The government plan to sell Maltese citizenship to the world's super-rich lacks any form of transparency or accountability'
Ara min qed jitkellem ukoll fuq accountability,dawn li sa ftit xhur ilu kienu jiftaħru li jagħmlu li iridu għax ħadd ma jista' għalihom, u li jekk xi ħadd jixbet l-attenzjoni dwar xi ħaġa li ma saritx jew mhux qed issir sewwa, kienu jgħidu, 'u sa jumejn oħra din tkun intesiet' mela nibqgħu għaddejjen bħal gaffa min fuq kulħadd.
These tactics may have worked in the eighties sir when your party wanted power at all and any cost, today it's a whole new kettle of fish, in your party's case, stinking fish!
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Kemm qisa inbiddlet il-fibra morali ta certu nies mid-9 ta Marzu l'hawn. Qabel jekk inhbiet haga min-nies ma kinitx sew u issa li jinheba ma jimpurtax ax qd jahbih il-Gvern li jien tellajt. Ara vera ma nbiddel xejn hlief il-kulur mill-elezzjoni l'hawn!
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Sur Azzopardi ax ma titlobx li jigu ippublikati il kuntratti tal Kazin tal PN ta Rahal Gdid(distrett tieghek) u dak tal ex Kazin tal PL tas Siggiewi! Lill tal PN geddidtilhom il kuntratt u Tas Siggiewi
tghajtu lill siehbek Karol Aquilina !!!
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Jason, be careful habib! You are being shoved forward by your dear PN Party "friends", and their b(l)ogger sidekicks, to front this dirty, negative, dastardly campaign of shooting from the hip by indiscriminate machine gun fire. Where are your PN Party friends? It seems you are the one that the public constantly sees and associates this dirty campaign with.
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Mhux li kien meta kienu fil gvern tal PN, kienu daqshekk vigilanti, ghax forsi kienu jindunaw bl-akbar skandlu li qatt sar Malta dwar ix-xiri taz-zejt. Issa iridu jilghabuha tal puritani. Issa too late, l-elettorat ma afdakomx aktar bil poter bl-aktar mod car fl-ahhar elezzjoni.
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why doesn't the Honourable Jason Azzopardi first publish the secret agreement made between ex Foreign Minister Tonio Borg and Aliyev - an identical case as the current situation if not worse. Why did Azzopardi not publish the agreement made on the allotment of the garage in Valletta to one of his mentor's stooges. If the previous PN Government did not publish these and other essential details, why should Jason now want vip treatment. In short just shut up and be quite. You are getting on many people's nerves with your antics, continuous jibes and inaccuracies, always hiding the truth of the errors (if not worse) made by you and your PN.
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"Azzopardi demands", who the hell dose he think he is this buffon. When the government says yes , then you can see the contract, until then eat your self, jason.
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Why doesn't the Opposition do its job properly and focus on ways to help the Government in the illegal immigration saga, or ask questions as who was responsible for the oil scandal; Arriva froga; BWSC decision and its commissions? Why?
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Well Jason lets hope hundreds apply! Better than the bunch of asylum seekers we are being crucified with and who are straining our financial resources. What about the millions of EU citizens who also come and go as they please!
