Cyprus cabinet to revoke 45 passports in cash-for-citizenship scheme

FILE PHOTO: A person holds an image of a passport during a protest against corruption outside the Filoxenia Conference Center, currently hosting Cyprus parliament, in Nicosia, Cyprus October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus said on Friday it would revoke the passports of 45 people who obtained citizenship under a now discredited investment scheme that ran for more than a decade.

Almost 7,000 people obtained citizenship under the cash-for-passports scheme, championed by Cyprus's right-wing government till concerns about possible corruption highlighted in an expose on the Al Jazeera network forced its cancellation in 2020.