Malta may cancel the passport of the son of the former head of a Russian oil services company, who was convicted in the UK of money laundering. According to the verdict, the 24-year-old Russian began working for an organized crime group shortly after he received EU citizenship through Malta’s “golden passport” program.

In February, Semyon Kuksov was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison. As reported by the British Crown Prosecution Servicehe admitted to laundering “in excess of £12 million ($15 million) of criminal proceeds.”

Semyon and his father Vladimir Anatolyevich Kuksov are among those who in 2022 received Maltese passports, a member of the European Union. Kuksov Sr. is not involved in the case against his son.

Malta has the right to revoke a passport if a new citizen of the country receives a prison sentence of at least a year in the first seven years.

As Joseph Mizzi, general director of the Maltese agency that oversees the investment program, said, Semyon Kuksov’s application will be reconsidered.

He said in an email that the agency is “seriously considering asking the Secretary to initiate the citizenship revocation process.”

Apparently, the Kuksovs became citizens of Malta several weeks before Russians were excluded from the “golden passport” program due to the full-scale war in Ukraine.

British lawyers for Vladimir Kuksov told reporters that “he submitted his application back in 2019 absolutely legally and passed a thorough government check to become a citizen of Malta.”

According to the prosecutor’s office, in July 2022 – approximately six months after receiving a Maltese passport – Semyon Kuksov and his accomplice began managing “couriers who transported dirty money and transported laundered funds abroad.”

Lawyers for Vladimir Kuksov reported that their client “does not want to comment [дело Семена]but notes that he and his adult son have been living their own lives for several years.”

Vladimir Kuksov headed AKROS, one of the leading companies in the Russian oilfield services industry; it was a partner of several sanctioned structures, including LUKOIL and Gazprom. He is still the main shareholder of the enterprise through the Cyprus Visnoy Limited. Kuksov and AKROS are not on the sanctions lists.

Malta’s citizenship by investment program launched in 2014 and immediately attracted Russians. In the first year, they accounted for 54 percent of the island country’s passport applications.

Maltese politicians ignored the reputational risks for years, but the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine brought increased attention to the program.

Critics say so-called golden visas provide easy access to the EU for “criminals, tax evaders” and other undesirables.

IN report In 2019, the European Commission noted that golden visas “carry associated risks, in particular in the areas of security, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.”

In March 2023, the European Commission filed a lawsuit against the Maltese government, claiming that issuing citizenship “for a set fee” violates EU law.

In 2022, the Maltese authorities assured that the program is legal and applicants undergo “strict verification procedures.” They added that “only deserving individuals receive Maltese passports and therefore European citizenship.”