Audit raised concerns about €1.25bn ‘golden visa’ scheme for millionaire immigrants

An internal audit raised concern about weak controls in the €1.25 billion “golden visa” scheme for millionaire immigrants years before it was scrapped, saying the legality of funds behind 18 sample applications could not be verified.

The previously undisclosed Department of Justice report was finalised in 2019, almost four years before ministers closed the immigrant investor programme (IIP) because of anxiety about surging applications from China and difficulties validating requests.

The private report was released in full this week after The Irish Times challenged redactions from freedom-of-information (FOI) records by the department, which concealed conclusions about the extent of control weakness in the files under audit.

“The audit examined 18 applications to the IIP and indicated that in each of the 18 instances, the files reviewed did not have evidence to clearly verify the legality of source of funds provided by the applicant when the application was received,” said a previously redacted finding.

There was no department comment when asked about the audit conclusions. The IIP opened residency in the State to non-Europeans with “at least €2 million” in personal wealth. They were in return required to invest €1 million in an Irish business or to make a big philanthropic donation.

The scheme was introduced in 2012 as a job-creation measure and came to be dominated by Chinese millionaires, 1,275 of whom sought Irish residency in 2022.

It was closed with one day’s notice in February 2023 when Simon Harris, now Taoiseach, was minister for justice during Helen McEntee’s maternity leave.

The scheme raised €1.25 billion, with beneficiaries including property groups Bartra and Fitzwilliam, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and housing charities iCare and the Peter McVerry Trust.

[ Concerns for years in Department of Justice over immigrant investor programme ]

Now the department has released key details in an audit report that called for stronger controls to confirm “applicants’ background and criminal history” and sought tighter reviews on the source of funding.

The audit report led to a separate external review by accountants EY, who said private due-diligence providers “may come under pressure to provide favourable reports” on applicants. EY also said managers of the Irish scheme “reviewed the contents” of a UK intelligence and security report in 2020 which made findings about a “more robust approach to the approval process of such visas”.

A redacted copy of the internal audit report was provided to The Irish Times as part of a FOI appeal to the Information Commissioner for department IIP records. The redactions were removed after submissions to the commissioner, whose office has yet to rule on the wider appeal.

“Twelve of 18 files examined did not have evidence of an affidavit attesting to the applicant’s good character,” the report said.

“Eleven of 18 files reviewed did not have sufficient evidence of background checks performed on the individuals. The review noted that in some cases the solicitors provided a good character reference but it was generic in nature and did not provide adequate assurance as to the character of the applicant ie ‘Applicant F has informed me that they are of good character and have no criminal convictions’.”

Although guidelines said a false declaration would invalidate any permission granted, the 2019 audit said there was “no process currently to investigate or perform background checks” that could identify a false declaration.

Applications before 2015 showed evidence of background checks being carried out by local Irish diplomats, the report said.

“One file from an applicant highlighted a number of significant ‘red flags’ raised by the local Irish embassy who performed a site visit to the personal business the applicant had put forward in the … application,” said a previously redacted part of the report.

“This highlights the importance of checks being carried out both at a local level, the case is under investigation by An Garda Síochána.”

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