Perforated is Golden Visa Programaccording to a report released just yesterday “The principle of money laundering”. “In a number of cases, funds invested in the acquisition of real estate are of suspicious origin,” it said in the opinion, while the Office attributes a central role in fraud to real estate companies, law firms and offshore companies.

The results are published during the period when the increase buying and selling real estate due to the doubling of the cost of obtaining a visa from 250,000 to 500,000 euros and the simultaneous cancellation of the corresponding program in Portugal. Characteristically, from October 2022 to February 2023, according to the Ministry of Immigration, investors submitted 3,782 applications for a residence permit.

“Real estate companies knowingly facilitated the abuse of the Golden Visa programs for their own financial gain, while also facilitating money laundering from illegal activities,” the report, written under the leadership of the head of Charalambos Vourliotis, notes.

During the investigation, the Office staff identified six types of fraud – abuse of the program by individuals or companies involved in real estate. OUR first of which concerns the purchase of real estate by foreign investors using a check. Although the law states that the sale contract must specify the price, method of payment and origin of funds, the FDA has identified dozens of cases where real estate companies have purchased property by paying part or all of the amount by cheque. “Using this payment method makes it difficult to trace the origin of funds. There are suspicions that the property is being sold with misleading information.” OUR second the case of fraud concerns the payment of real estate through POS.

The department checked the case of real estate purchase and sale by a brokerage company through a POS-terminal installed in another country. As in the previous case, “the use of POS makes it impossible to verify the origin of the funds used,” the report notes. How Tuesday And Wednesday describes how the program is abused – with minimal differences between them – by real estate companies buying real estate at low prices, which is then resold exclusively to foreign buyers instead of 250,000 euros, which is the investment limit for obtaining a residence permit.

After receiving a residence permit, many properties are rented out by sellers at prices that are significantly higher than those prevailing on the market. Otherwise (5th mode of action), the study led to real estate purchases for foreign remittances and by the sender of the same offshore company. That is, it was established that the same offshore company purchased apartments on behalf of different and unrelated foreigners who applied for a residence permit. Endin some cases, it turned out that some houses bought by foreigners who received “golden visas” were resold to other foreigners who also received visas, although this is prohibited.

According to him Ministry of Immigration, in the two months of January-February, requests for a permanent investor license increased by 252%. There were 1,446 new requests, compared to 411 in the corresponding two months last year. The increase is due to the upcoming doubling of the cost of obtaining a “golden visa” or an investor visa from 250,000 to 500,000 euros.