Turkish authorities have announced the revocation of 451 passports issued to foreigners under the Turkish citizenship-by-investment program. The decision is the result of a large-scale operation to dismantle a criminal group involved in fictitious real estate sales to individuals from other countries. These deals allowed them to circumvent the legal requirements for Turkish citizenship.
According to Turkish law enforcement authorities, 106 suspects were detained during the investigation. They are accused of a number of serious crimes, including migrant smuggling, money laundering, fraud and forgery of official documents.
As a result, 1,240 apartments, 47 cars, 65 plots of land and the assets of several legal entities were confiscated. Investigators claim that 451 foreigners participated in the fictitious real estate purchase scheme and will now lose their Turkish citizenship. Cancellation procedures have already been initiated.
As it turned out, the criminal scheme involved the following: foreigners transferred an amount corresponding to the investment threshold required to obtain citizenship (initially this amount was 250,000 USD, later increased to 450,000 USD). However, after the “purchase“ of the property, the seller returned up to 100,000 USD in cash to the buyer, making the transaction fictitious. In this way, the participants circumvented the actual requirements of the investment program, obtaining citizenship illegally.
Turkish authorities stated that they will continue to fight corruption and violations in the citizenship program and will strengthen the implementation of investment requirements.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be seen at imot.bg