Watch: ‘Passport Scheme Generated €158 Million In Rent Alone’ – Jason Micallef
PL activist Jason Micallef pointed out that the citizenship-by-investment scheme generated some €158 million in rent alone since its inception over ten years ago.
During an interview on Karl Bonaci’s podcast, Micallef mounted a vigorous defence of the scheme after the European Court of Justice ruled that it violates EU law by commercialising the acquisition of EU state nationality.
“You can weakly state that our passports are not for sale but what kind of argument is that? You must see what value your passport has, not whether you can sell it or not.”
“Has a single Maltese family become worse off as a result of this scheme? On the contrary, official statistics show that this scheme generated €158 million in rental income alone since it was launched in 2014.”
The scheme obliges new Maltese citizens to purchase or rent a property on the island, with a minimum required investment.
Besides the €158 million in rental income, Micallef noted that these new citizens spent around €340 million to purchase property.
“This means that around half a billion euro was distributed among Maltese families, who became rich, if not extremely rich,” he said.
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