A four-member team tasked with auditing the controversial Citizenship for Investment program in Cyprus since its inception by the previous government has begun investigating cases assessed as high risk.

One of the members of this group, Demetra Kalogirou, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), said that they had started with high risk cases from 2007 to 2013, then intend to start similar cases for 2013-2020, when the administration of Nicos Anastasiades came to power. After that, the committee will move on to cases of medium and low risk.

The CySEC staff is currently investigating pending the recruitment of 25 specialists to assist the group. The committee is examining about 150 files out of an estimated 3,500 relating to 6,200 nationals.

Recall that the commission, headed by former Supreme Court President Myron Nicolatos, was appointed in September following a report by Al-Jazeera, based on a leak of official information that could suggest that Cyprus was issuing passports to dubious individuals. Its members will have to verify all naturalizations between 2007 and August 17, 2020, when the new, stricter legislation regarding the program came into force.