Has this man got his passport already? What sort of deceit is going on?
As soon as I heard that the Chinese billionaire in question had flown in for the weekend to apply for his Maltese passport, I thought something was up.
You don’t fly in to apply for your passport in person. This is the digital age.
You do, however, need to COLLECT your passport in person. There might also be a couple of things new citizens need to do in person, like swear an oath of loyalty to their new country, though I doubt we have made that necessary.
I rather suspect that this anonymous Chinese billionaire flew in last weekend and left today because his is one of probably several passports that are being issued hastily before the government finally gets round – if it does at all – to publishing the legal notice requiring the names of all passport-buyers to be made public via the Government Gazette.
The law now stands in its original form: secrecy about the names is not only legal but mandatory.
The government has not yet published its legal notice repealing the secrecy clause.
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http://www.forbes.com/china-billionaires/list/
Let’s have a parliamentary question.
It will be Muscat’s folly at its best as Mallia answers confirming he can’t give us this man’s identity.
Imagine that.
I’m not one for rightist sentiment, but this got to me. So this geezer went to the police thinking he’s in downtown Beijing, then tries to corrupt journalists to get their silence. Nice piece of cultural exchange there.
It’s sublime, this incident couldn’t portray it better.
@ Jozef
Parliamentary questions are a waste of time. It’s not worth the spit or the paper used.
PL seems to have made it a policy to evade questions, citing one reason or the other. The favourite is ‘commercial interests’ used for Arriva saga, for example.
Parliament is being used as a platform for Muscat et al to announce what the PL would like us to know. They expect the opposition to just nod their approval, and can’t understand how the latter are not performing their part in the comedy they are acting out.
Exactly, let’s have it played out with Mallia telling us it’s not in our interest to know, that even though they did say they’d remove the secrecy clause, they still sold passports beforehand anyway.
There’s a limit to how much the Maltese can be insulted.
The legal notice to repeal secrecy will take effect from publication date onwards. Therefore the individuals getting their passports now will remain secret.
In this way, Muscat’s deal with specific individuals to keep their names secret will be honoured.
Which brings us to Mrs.Konrad Mizzi and her office somewhere in China. An office from which her minister, Cardona, kept the widest of berths.
Do we have to start asking who’s lining their pockets on this one?
Are we sure it’s not just our Joey’s British humour playing up again?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4m_ajuNmSA
When does Kurt Farrugia step out and tell us that ‘oh by the way, this was all made up’ ?
Malta is bankrupt: morally & politically.
What’s worrying me is why I feel so much at home here.
The Prime Minister has started linking the sale of citizenship to tangibles that appeal to the ignorance, selfishness, and greed that are so predominant in your average Maltese. The Malta Independent reported him making an attempt to link it to the promised utility bill reduction.
Public opinion will soon swing in his favour. Maltese people are that gullible.
I wonder if the Chinese government monitors this website and/or Maltese news sites.
Xin Hua would be monitoring this website without any doubt.
And its contributors.
I would start by sending his photograph to the Interpol, to check if he is a known criminal.
Or a well known restauranteur.
Daphne,
M-GYQM (the registration number on the private jet which the “Chinese billionaire” was travelling in) seems to belong to “Head Win Group”
source: http://www.airframes.org/reg/mgyqm
Head Win Limited:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=75108375
Why is this guy so camera shy? He is acting like a john that has been caught visiting a cheap Beijing cathouse, which is exactly what his Italian minder thinks. Don’t blame them. We are whores and chicken thieves when we sell our citizenship to strangers.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/MIA-to-probe-leaked-departure-of-Chinese-billionaire-20140120
I can’t believe the comments.
People are so brainwashed by Labour that they don’t understand the concept of a free press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Aoyuan_Property
http://www.corporateinformation.com/Company-Snapshot.aspx?cusip=C156SNG00
How do we know he is not a secret agent sent by his Government to infiltrate Europe ? How can any due diligence board ever EVER penetrate the gargantuan structure of Chinese Intelligence ? U hallina Joseph -(and once again) b’min tahseb li qed titnejjek ?
And the secrecy clause will not be revoked and will remain in the legislation as approved last November. You know tit-for -tat for the nasty Nats not playing ball.
L.N. 450 of 2013
Individual Investor Programme of the Republic of Malta Regulations, 2013
Government Gazette of Malta No. 19,187 – 24.12.2013
Article 9
“No person, except Identity Malta, the concessionaire or an
Approved Agent shall for gain and without being duly authorised, advertise, publish or disseminate publicly through any means whatsoever any information relating to the programme:
Provided that Approved Agents shall only advertise,
publish or disseminate publicly any information relating to the programme in strict compliance with guidelines issued from time to time by Identity Malta.”
Not only is there a secrecy clause within the law, it is also in the Legal Notice.
We have been there before under Labour.
Libyan security agents smuggled in and out of the airport through the VIP lounge in Mintoff-KMB times.
Today, under Joseph Muscat, Chinese applicants for a discredited Malta (and EU) passport smuggled out to private jets through a passage normally reserved for aircrew.
If he has a passport then he has an ID number and possibly an ID card.
Is it likely this was done over a weekend without it leaking out?
Oath of allegiance, Citizenship document, ID number, passport all sorted double quick?
Daphne,
He did not come to Malta to apply. Applications are not being accepted anyway.
But even if he wanted to apply for citizenship, the place he should have gone is to Zurich Switzerland to meet with Henley, as they are running the program and applications have to be made through them. By the way, I am not sure what happens after Henley gets the application, as it is impossible to find Identity Malta’s offices. Maybe you can find their offices?
So this was simply not real. The guy may have not even been Chinese, who knows.
Could it be that this financial intermediary came to grab the passports himself ?
Why was he camera shy?Why did he want the video destroyed?
Why was his minder aggressive and furious?
If he’s a Chinese citizen, it would be illegal for him to try and obtain double citizenship.
Funny you should mention that. When I read the article in The Sunday Times, I thought exactly that: why is he flying over to have talks when Skype would perfectly fit the bill? I was quite surprised and, to me, it appeared very strange.
There is no explanation other than that the passport was ready and could be collected.
Perhaps one should also ask what meetings – with whom, and about what interests – did this Chinese gentleman hold while in Malta?
I would rather believe that this man was here for the purpose of meeting persons and seeing places (maybe even the property he intends to buy).
Were the other Chinese persons related to the billionaire? From their age, especially the male, they do not look like they are advisors or negotiators. Secondary applicants at Eur 25,000 each, maybe?
He came, he saw and he picked up his passport.
Whoever applies for a Maltese passport has to pick it up in person.
It’s as simple as this. If the Prime Minister set our minds at rest that not a single person buying Maltese/EU citizenship is going to be anonymous, and after confirming in parliament that the Chinese guy was here for the scheme, then he MUST name the person. Now.
This Chinese man should have gone to knock on the door of Malta Enterprise to create proper jobs for the unemployed. I’m really disgusted with the way my country’s reputation is being sold and humiliated by Joseph Muscat’s govt.
This episode shows that those buying passaports become Maltese citizens Class A and we, Class B citizens who are shoved about and not even allowed to take their photos.
I’m surprised that this man felt intimidated. I just wonder how many people were intimidated by him on his way to become a billionaire
Not much of a billionaire if you ask me.
Couldn’t even afford a North Face puffer jacket.
Well if he intends to keep them secret, I doubt they will remain secret. Me thinks all the EU secret service divisions are on full alert, as we speak.
The private plane’s registration is owned by Head Win Ltd., a subsidiary of China Aoyuan Property Group Ltd.
So the Labour party is accusing the media with the harassment of an “investor.”
Since when investors hide their faces from the media rather than invite the media to report on their investments?
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-21/news/scene-caused-at-airport-shows-pn-are-against-investment-3747610624/
At least this Chinese billionaire has some decency. He knows that he is doing the wrong thing to buy the EU and Maltese Citizenship, so he wanted to hide his face in shame. If only Joseph Muscat could do the same.
And did The Times say he is the founder of China’s largest independent brokerage firm? There must be a mistake. How could someone who should recognise an investment from afar be so gullible to hand over Eur 650,000 to Joseph Muscat’s Ponzi scheme under the name of Individual Investor Program?
The Chinese “investor” should thank the media for alerting him to the fraud.
…”Since when do investors…”
Look he is not wearing a North Face jacket. He cannot be a VIP
Does the ‘Democratic’ Republic of China permit a Chinese citizen to also be a citizen of another country?
[Daphne – No.]
Is this the Chinese billionaire in question?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13752540
http://static.businessinsider.com/image/4ef22dbaeab8ea317b000041/image.jpg
A parliamentary question is not likely to be answered honestly, if at all, but that does not mean that it should not be put. Let’s not be carried away and assume that this person has any criminal record reported to Interpol. Chinese authorities tend to take steps against their citizens selectively. In any case, he may need access to the European Union through the back-door that Malta will provide, for activities other than criminal.
Remember that the word “talent” does not refer only to ability but also to lucre.