Dominica's golden passport scheme

Dominica's golden passports - 6th Nov 2023

Paying $100,000 can give you visa-free travel to 130 countries, which also includes those in the EU. The small Caribbean island of Dominica is offering a 'Citizenship Programme'. The investment scheme's earned the country $1 billion since it began, 20 years ago.

The problem is that it's also attracted criminals.

The programme's website promises a four-to-six month wait. And there's no need to actually set foot on Dominica itself.

Special journalists across the world carried out an investigation. They found Dominica's scheme had attracted criminals from different countries. Saddam Hussein's former top nuclear scientist and a dishonest Turkish millionaire had invested.

The programme's said to complete plenty of checks on investors and individuals with a criminal record aren't allowed to take part. Dominica's prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit says the system's clean and professional.

However, the journalists in the investigation discovered several passport buyers who were later prosecuted at home for crimes. These included a lawyer from California, as well as Jordanian father and son investors, Fayez and Mutasem Faouri. These two businessmen stole millions from their company shareholders. Mutasem Faouri went on to buy a number of UK businesses by using his Dominican passport.

For many experts, the country needs to do far more to prevent these problems. One group of EU officials has recommended that programmes like Dominica's are closed down.

Dominica's a fairly poor country, which is often hit by stormy weather and hurricanes. In the future, it may need to think of different ways to attract investors.