Vanuatu to review citizenship after Andrew Tate reportedly bought 'golden passport'

RNZ News

3 days ago

Andrew Tate talks to reporters outside the Court of Appeal on October 15, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania.
Photo:via CNN Newsource
By Vanuatu reporter
Lillyrose Welwel
,
Max Walden
and
Doug Dingwall
of ABC
Vanuatu says it is looking to revoke citizenship granted to misogynist influencer Andrew Tate after it was revealed he allegedly received a Vanuatu passport around the time of his arrest in Romania on charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women.
Mr Tate reportedly purchased a fast-tracked Vanuatu passport through the country's so-called Development Support Program, under which applicants can be granted citizenship for a minimum investment of $US$130,000 (AU$201,000).
The passport was granted in December 2022, the same month of Tate's arrest in Romania, according to an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit organisation headquartered in Amsterdam.
There was no indication that Mr Tate's brother Tristan, who was also arrested in 2022, had received Vanuatu citizenship, its report said.
Vanuatu government spokesperson Kiery Manassah told the
ABC
it was investigating the matter.
"We're definitely looking into it and once we have the files, definitely the processes will be in place to revoke his citizenship," he said.
The government definitely does not want to encourage people of questionable backgrounds to be granted citizenship.
"Of course, those that are wanted by their country or are being investigated by police authorities from overseas are not wanted, not welcome to be part of the citizenship of Vanuatu."
OCCRP's lead editor for the Pacific, Aubrey Belford, said they had been investigating golden passports in Vanuatu when they came across the name Emory Andrew Tate.
They then worked to establish it was the same person as the online influencer.
"The [golden passport] system has been abused by oligarchs, organised criminals, intelligence agents, and it's caused a lot of alarm because it's one of these loopholes that allows people to get a new passport or even a new identity and be able to evade law enforcement," he told the
ABC
.
The Tate revelations are the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the lucrative citizenship-by-investment scheme that have led to both the European Union and the United Kingdom
removing Vanuatu's visa-free travel status
.
Then-British home secretary Suella Braverman said in 2023 that close consideration of Vanuatu's golden passports had revealed "clear and evident abuse of the scheme, including the granting of citizenship to individuals known to pose a risk to the UK".
Last month prosecutors in the UK brought charges of rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking against both Andrew and Tristan Tate, relating to alleged offences that took place between 2012 and 2015.
Andrew Tate faces the additional offence of controlling prostitution for gain.
The brothers, who are both citizens of the US and UK, deny all allegations brought by Romanian and British prosecutors.
Port Vila Council of Women president Jane Iatika said individuals with reputations like that of Mr Tate should not be issued Vanuatu passports.
"[They] will teach the other males here in Vanuatu to do the same thing," she told the
ABC
.
"It's better that we review everyone's information before we give out the passports or citizenships to people like that."
Photo:
123rf
Jotham Napat, who became Vanuatu's prime minister earlier this year, has vowed to reform the troubled economic citizenship program, which is one of the government's major sources of revenue.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Vanuatu provided a golden passport to
fugitive Indian ex-cricket boss Lalit Modi
, who applied to officially renounce his Indian citizenship after acquiring citizenship of the Pacific nation.
OCCRP's Belford said that Vanuatu granted golden passports "because it's a nice little money maker".
For a small country like Vanuatu it's very tempting to accept that money, especially since most of the people who will get a Vanuatu passport will never set foot in Vanuatu.
Documents from the International Monetary Fund show the scheme provided about 9 per cent of Vanuatu's government revenue in 2024 - down from 33 per cent in 2020.
Mr Manassah, the government spokesperson, said the Tate case was a "lapse" in the scheme but that the government would make changes to improve background checks and close loopholes exploited by some applicants to gain citizenship.
"The government needs to tighten it," he said.
"These are things that will take time, especially to put back the confidence and the credibility of our travelling documents."
-
ABC