They won’t because lots of people are making a buck. And the Nationalist Party knows it has vultures too who are sucking up that money like they have never seen money before.

I naively thought the Nationalists would repeal the scheme on winning government but have long since given up any hope of that happening.

Having a secret ‘spare citizenship’ makes it much easier to beat a hasty retreat when necessary.

The ‘spare citizenship’ will be kept secret not just because dual nationality is prohibited, but also to keep the backup plan hidden.

Until now I had sort of thought this would have been thwarted by the due diligence that is supposedly carried out but this case shows that Identity Malta is probably an accomplice in this particular type of misuse of purchased citizenship.

It is very difficult to imagine a level of incompetence that would miss such a thing, even in the meritocratic Taghna Lkoll crowd.

I agree with you and in a normal situation it should.

Liu Zhongtian is one of the better known Chinese who bought Maltese citizenship. He has no intention of even living in Malta, and needs to retain his Chinese citizenship because his fortune is based in China.

Under Chinese law, he forfeited his Chinese citizenship the moment he picked up his Maltese passport, or had it picked up for him. If he still holds Chinese citizenship, it’s because he has corrupt government officials in his pocket.