Foundation of law firm involved in citizenship sale received donations, Manuel Delia reveals

It must be presumed that Claris Foundation does not receive donations from clients of Chetcuti Cauchi, the activist and blogger wrote.

A handbook by the citizenship-selling agency says that agents should refrain from suggesting donations to “voluntary organisations in which the agent’s shareholders or directors are involved”.

The foundation must be “merely spectacularly fortunate” to receive donations from clients of competing firms, Delia said.

He also reminded that Chetcuti Cauchi was suspended as an agent after its owner was caught on tape promising to arrange for a passport for a fictitious applicant with a criminal record.

Delia pointed out that “none of these stories made the front page of Illum”, but the “€1,500 that went to Repubblika was the shocker of the week”.

Saviour Balzan’s newspaper Illum and the Labour party’s station One first reported that the civil society NGO had received a donation from a passport applicant.

The reports, which were widely seen as a concerted attempt to discredit Repubblika, were triggered by information tabled in parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri last week.

On Thursday, Repubblika returned the unwanted donation of €1,500 it had received from a passport applicant identified by the authorities.

‘Stop the scheme’

“You are either born to it, or you make Malta your home and commit to this community, whether you are rich or you are poor”, Manuel Delia said.

“If you ask me what needs to be done – stop the scheme”, Delia reiterated NGO Repubblika’s position in a statement to Bonġu News on Friday afternoon.

Claris Foundation closed in November

Update Sunday 11:00 | In a reply to the Times of Malta, Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, the managing partner of Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, confirmed that the Claris Foundation – which had been closed down in November 2022 – would receive donations from persons applying for citizenship.

“The firm and its affiliate entities have consistently asked potential donors to indicate their philanthropic preferences and consequently presented with several charities that match their preferences. Invariably, they would donate to more than one charity, sometimes donating also to Claris Foundation”, the newspaper quoted Chetcuti.

New guidelines stating that golden passport agents should “refrain from suggesting to their clients voluntary organisations in which the agent’s shareholders or directors are involved” were not in place in the scheme’s original setup.