‘Passport rich’ shell out €3.9 million for Maltese charity

Although portrayed as a sign of altruism, charity is also employed by those acquiring passports to lay claim to a ‘bond’ with the island. With physical presence not a necessary requirement for applicants to obtain citizenship, charitable donations have been used as a means of establishing a “link” with Malta during the application process to satisfy the residence requirement.

A joint report by Transparency International and Global Witness last week argued that such donations could lead to conflicts of interest or offer opportunities for corruption and favouritism: a case in point was a report to the IIP regulator that the agency was pointing applicants to specific charity.

By the end 2016, 215 donations amounting to €1,703,700 had been made to philanthropic organisations and NGOs in Malta. “Malta needs to adequately address the programme’s reputational and money-laundering risks. It also needs to increase transparency and accountability in the management of contributions and decision-making, particularly by limiting the discretion of public officials,” TI and Global Witness said in their report.

The Puttinu Cares charity for children’s medical care was the largest beneficiary, receiving over €1 million through 160 individual donations. The Malta Community Chest Fund also took €914,000 from 123 donations.

Other top beneficiaries were government agency Heritage Malta with €300,000 from 32 donors, and Claris Foundation – a charity spin-off from citizenship experts ClarisGlobal – which recieved €188,000 in 26 donations.

The Dar tal-Providenza received €138,000 from 28 donations while Inspire took €127,900 in 29 donations.

The largest single donation was that of €100,000, which went to the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Malta.

Puttinu Cares has also benefited from a €1 million bequest from the National Development and Social Fund, the posterity fund that curates the revenues from the Individual Investor Programme, to construct new London premises to house patients and families.

Donations to Heritage Malta were used to restore historical sites like the Grand Salon at the Auberge de Provence, the purchase of a set of 12 bells for the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa, and for works at Għar Dalam.

Apart from various philanthropic organisations, other beneficiaries included sporting organisations, as well as religious, cultural, and heritage charities.

“Donations are given on a voluntary basis,” the parliamentary secretariat told MaltaToday. “The choice of beneficiaries and donation amount is totally at the discretion of the applicants. The IIP Agency is only informed about the donations made for information purposes only. It is testimony to the rich benefits the country reaps from the IIP scheme.”