9 – Stop selling citizenship

A Russian mobster moved to Finland and set up a big money laundering operation there until an international investigation caught him.

An Egyptian business tycoon was charged by American federal authorities for large scale tax evasion.

A Chinese businessman was indicted by a grand jury for smuggling aluminium to America.

Three oligarchs in Vladimir Putin’s network were listed for sanctions by the United States and their assets were frozen worldwide.

Russian, Egyptian, Chinese: under Maltese law they were all Maltese.

They came to Malta just once to pick up their Maltese passport which they used to try to hide who they were and where they were from. They used the good name of our country to cover their bad name.

These are among the few who were discovered anyway.

The suspicion on the others remains. Why would someone buy another country’s passport if they have nothing to hide? That makes the holder of every single Maltese passport suspect.

Every immigration officer anywhere in the world will wonder at the sight of our passport: are you really Maltese or did you buy this to hide what you’re doing?

If Malta is your home or you have authentic ties with Malta, then you’re Maltese, wherever you are in the world.

Any person who comes to Malta but once, simply to buy a passport and hide their true origins from the world, is not Maltese.

Citizenship is a right for the poor as much as it is for the rich and should not be a product sold only to millionaires. 

Written by Manuel Delia
Video Production & Voiceover: Michael Kaden