Khalid, who later became Afghanistan’s defense minister, is not the only newly minted Dominican with a dark past. In 2014, the island nation’s passport was purchased by Saddam Hussein’s leading nuclear scientist, who is called the father of Iraq’s nuclear program. A year later, a Libyan colonel who served under Muammar Gaddafi became a citizen of Dominica.
In addition, thousands of people have taken advantage of Dominica’s citizenship by investment program, under which the base cost of a passport is $100,000.
Obtaining information about them has been difficult, but OCCRP and the Washington-based NGO Government Accountability Project, with the support of partners, have identified the names of about 7,700 people who have become Dominican citizens in recent years.
The most numerous groups of buyers are Russians, Chinese and Iranians, including very wealthy individuals. Thus, passports of a Caribbean country were received by two Russian billionaires of Azerbaijani origin, who came under sanctions after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
Among the newly minted citizens of Dominica there are also government officials, including a former minister of Jordan and the future head of the Central Bank of Iraq. They have not been accused of wrongdoing, but they have the status of “politically exposed persons”, which implies increased control when opening companies or bank accounts.
Judging by data from corporate registries, dozens of buyers of the island state’s passports registered companies in different countries using their new documents.
Journalists found at least 30 people who, after receiving Dominican citizenship, found themselves under investigation, charges or prison sentences. They uncovered almost a dozen more episodes in which Caribbean country passport holders subsequently fled their home jurisdictions to evade the law.
In these cases, Dominica cannot be accused of deliberately selling passports to criminals. However, the country’s authorities have not said whether they have revoked citizenship from any of these individuals.
In 2016, Dominica’s then UN representative said in an interview that authorities screen applicants for passports very carefully.
“Those who have something to hide do not participate in the program,” he noted. In the same interview, the head of the citizenship by investment program said that they rejected only two percent of applications.
“Golden passports and golden visas are created for criminals,” –
– Sophie in’t Veld
“Golden passports and golden visas are designed for criminals,” says MEP Sophie in’t Veld, one of the critics of such programs. “They give direct access to the EU.”
Experts say Dominica’s passport trading program is the result of years of oppression. More than a hundred years of slavery, French and British colonization and globalization have left the country little chance of development. Dominica sells passports to fund government services.
It does not violate international laws. “States can set their own rules for naturalization,” said Madeleine Sumption, director of migration at the University of Oxford.
Golden passport expert Kristin Surak believes that issuing citizenship to dubious individuals entails reputational risks that can lead to serious consequences.
“Major players, such as the EU, can cancel visa-free entry – this was the case with Vanuatu,” said Surak (restrictions against the country were introduced in 2022 due to the “golden passport” program).
Indeed, the UK recently introduced visas for Dominican citizens due to “apparent irregularities” in its passport program; Previously, residents of the former British colony had visa-free entry into the country. British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the Caribbean state is issuing citizenship to “individuals who pose a threat to the UK.”
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called the UK’s decision “unpleasant” and noted that his government was taking “additional measures to improve the program.” He said authorities adhere to a “multi-layered” system of checks and balances for which “lead watchdog agencies are responsible.”
However, a participant in the program who had reason to worry about the checks told reporters that in his case the control procedures did not cause any special problems.
“They told me not to worry”
Mathematician Rakesh Wadhwa claims to have figured out how to “reboot the gambling business” by changing the rules in favor of the casinos. The Indian native built a career on this and became a gambling magnate in Nepal, where he worked with several casinos, but eventually became involved in a serious tax case.
According to media reports, he fled Nepal in 2010 to avoid arrest for tax evasion. Later, the country’s authorities revoked his gambling license. There are currently no open criminal or civil cases against him in Nepal, but authorities still classify him as a defaulter (he owes the government $6.5 million in taxes).
Wadhwa, who blames Nepal’s new communist government for his woes at the time, told reporters that a Dominican passport was his ticket to freedom.
He says he hasn’t been able to travel to Singapore or London for a while “due to legal issues and confusion in Nepal.” Then he realized that Dominica citizenship would be his “path to survival.”
“People… under sanctions in the Middle East dreamed of this passport,” Wadhwa shared. “For them it was a chance to start life and business again. I also decided to buy new documents.”
Wadhwa received a Dominica passport in 2016. He said the process – handled through Dubai-based Citizenship Invest – took just a few weeks.
“They hired an American firm to check my documents and affairs in Nepal,” he said. — When I asked [Citizenship Invest]whether my problems with the law would become an obstacle… they told me not to worry and noted that the inspectors would not look at current cases, no matter how complicated they were.”
Citizenship Invest promised him that the inspectors would quickly complete the inspection – and that’s what happened: “They didn’t ask me anything, they just asked me to fill out a form.”
A few days later the approval came. “I was surprised,” Wadhwa recalls. “But I was grateful for a second chance at life.”
Citizenship Invest did not respond to a request for comment.
The Government of Dominica and Prime Minister Skerrit also ignored our questions. At a recent press conference, the Prime Minister commented on our investigation: “There are people in this country who are still trying to destroy [программу «гражданство за инвестиции»] and collude with international and local journalists to spread malicious propaganda and misinformation about our program. Some are only involved because they want to take the Labor Party out of power.”
According to Skerritt, the citizenship-by-investment program “is a major driver of economic and social development [Доминики]as well as the full scope of the national jobs program, which costs almost five million dollars a month. [Программа] allows us to build thousands of homes, improve healthcare and national security systems.”
“We maintain a robust, multi-layered system of controls,” Skerritt added. “If today someone became a citizen of Dominica, and tomorrow they broke the law, then the program cannot be blamed for this.”
As a result of the development of this area, more than 70 companies have appeared that are accredited to promote the Dominica “golden passport” program. Some of them have also expanded into the construction industry.
Among the most notable is UAE-registered Montreal Management Consultants Est (MMCE), led by Anthony Hayden.
MMCE not only sells passports, but also has a construction division in Dominica – MMC Development. Its website states that it is the country’s “leading construction company.” Among other things, it is developing a new international airport; it is reportedly worth an estimated $370 million.
In the Dominica social housing project, MMCE was able to combine two activities.
After Tropical Storm Erica hit Dominica in 2015, MMCE signed several agreements with the Dominica government to build hurricane-resistant homes. The financing mechanism for the project turned out to be extremely beneficial for Hayden and his company. In 2018 Hayden gave an interview to the publication, specializing in citizenship by investment. He said the government reimbursed MMCE for construction costs from the proceeds MMCE made from the sale of passports, while taking a commission. Funds were transferred through an escrow account into which passport fees were deposited. Some of the money went to the government, and some went to reimburse Hayden’s company.
“MMCE receives both a service fee from customers and a construction fee,” Hayden said at the time.
Hayden responded to journalists’ questions with a letter saying that the scheme does pose risks, but also benefits.
“The pace of passport trading does not affect the progress of the project as MMCE allocates funds in advance to ensure timely completion and commissioning of the projects,” the letter reads. “Such schemes have a certain price, both financial and moral. Most investors refuse such projects because they are considered high-risk. We are proud that we are not afraid to take risks and successfully implement large-scale projects.”
The letter indicates that a government organization was involved in the verification of candidates for citizenship by investment. “MMCE, as an authorized representative, operates its own strict system for screening potential candidates for citizenship.”
The letter also states that the company “does not and will never assist individuals or entities with criminal histories in obtaining immigrant status or second citizenship.”
Hayden also worked directly with Prime Minister Skerritt.
Documents obtained by journalists showed that in 2018, his company bought property in Dominica from Skerrit for over $270,000. Dominica authorities for 2020 paid to the same company about 140 thousand dollars a year for rent for the prime minister of a mansion overlooking Roseau (when Skerritt was criticized for this, he promised not to renew the two-year contract).
Jessica Tillipman, associate director of the government procurement law research program at George Washington University, said the connection between Hayden and Skerritt could pose a conflict of interest.
Hayden’s spokesman told reporters that his relationship with Prime Minister Skerritt, whom the businessman deeply respects, is “purely professional.”
You can also buy Dominican citizenship by investing $200,000 in government-approved real estate under construction – such projects should create jobs for local residents.
Companies that also specialize in passport trading and property development in Dominica include Range Developments in the UAE. Among the projects it has financed through the citizenship sale program is a hotel near Cabrits National Park in the north of the island.
According to documents obtained by OCCRP, Range’s clients included Asadullah Khalid, the former Afghan intelligence chief who was repeatedly accused in human rights violations.
When asked for comment, Range said that “interested applicants could only invest in the project once they had been approved by the government. This means that they have passed the government checks and were found to be suitable candidates for citizenship.”
“The vast majority of applications were handled by third party promoters and local agents rather than Range Developments. Therefore, we do not have the data you are talking about,” the company said. Unexplained Wealth
While firms like MMCE and Range openly profited from the citizenship by investment program, Prime Minister Skerrit also improved his financial situation.
“I believe that I should have the highest salary in the country,” says the prime minister at a report published in 2021 video. “Most people earn more than me.”
Opposition politicians and other observers, including American diplomats, became interested in Skerrit’s fortune and suspected that his sudden enrichment was facilitated by “golden passports.”
“Skerrit’s declarations included minimum assets when he joined the government in 2000,” according to a 2009 US State Department cable published by WikiLeaks. — Skerritt had no other official job and made no investments that generate income beyond his monthly government salary of less than $2,000. Nevertheless, Skerritt acquired plots of land in Dominica, which on paper are worth over 400 thousand dollars (the market value is higher), and is also building a palace residence in his native village of Vieille Cas.”
The following year, Dominica’s Anti-Corruption Commission examined a complaint filed against the prime minister by opposition leader Lennox Linton. Linton suggested that Skerritt bought eight beachfront villas for several million dollars, although his official income does not justify such sums.
According to the complaint, “to finance the purchase of these villas, the Prime Minister received gifts, benefits and preferences” in violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.
At the Commission’s request, Linton provided evidence, including leaked letters and a secretly recorded telephone conversation, indicating Skerritt’s ownership of these assets.
The commission invited Linton to a hearing and examined his complaint, but ultimately decided that there was insufficient evidence of Skerrit receiving improper gifts, and possible violations of real estate ownership should be investigated by the prosecutor’s office. The commission ruled that further investigation was needed to determine whether the prime minister abused his powers. It is unknown whether an investigation was carried out.
According to Skerritt’s LinkedIn page, his son attended an expensive New York school. Media connect the prime minister’s wife Melissa and several of his relatives with an apartment in New York worth $2.2 million.
Skerrit confirmed to Al Jazeera that his family lived in the apartment, but said it was a “kind gesture” from his wife’s friend, denying the accusations.
The prime minister and his wife did not respond to requests for comment.