Influencer Not Disqualified From Vanuatu 'Golden Passport' Due To No Conviction
Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific Journalist
A Pacific editor for the newsroom that found online influencer Andrew Tate has Vanuatu citizenship says Tate was not disqualified from getting the "golden passport" because he has not been convicted.
Tate, a self-described misogynist, faces charges of rape and human trafficking in both the United Kingdom and Romania.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found Tate was granted citizenship in December 2022.
Dan McGarry, an editor with OCCRP, said the passport was issued about 15 days after Tate was detained in Romania.
Tate bought into the "golden passport" scheme, formally known as citizenship by investment, where applicants can be granted Vanuatu citizenship for a minimum investment of $US130,000.
McGarry said the citizenship commissioner - who has been newly appointed in the role - was surprised to find out who Tate was.
"He expressed regret, but at the same time, he said that once a submission has been made, once the application is put to the commission, nothing short of a criminal conviction or false representation on the application itself is sufficient to stop the process," McGarry said.
He said despite the charges, because Tate has not been convicted, "none of that is disqualifying".
"I think if it comes out that there's a conviction that arises, it's possible that his citizenship may be revoked as a result."
McGarry said there are several reasons why people want a Vanuatu passport, including not for nefarious reasons.
"There is a fairly legitimate argument to be made for citizens of repressive regimes whose travel is restricted by their local authorities."
But for Tate, Vanuatu citizenship could have seemed appealing because there's no extradition treaty between Vanuatu and Romania.
"[Tate's] on the record saying that he has multiple passports and that he prefers to live in places where he can effectively buy his way out of any problem that he's facing.
"However, he's now facing criminal charges in the UK as well. That was just confirmed last week and there is a very long-standing extradition agreement between the UK and Vanuatu, so I'm not sure the passport is going to do what he thought it would do originally."
Citizenship by investment started in 1984 in the Caribbean, with Vanuatu launching its own scheme in 2017.
"It structured it in such a way that it was very easy for people outside of Vanuatu to insert themselves into the process by acting as sub agents, effectively selling citizenship and that made it very lucrative," McGarry said.
Until 2024, Vanuatu citizens had visa-free access to the Schengen area in the EU.
"It made the Vanuatu passport very, very attractive, and the price was somewhat better than some of the earlier programs," McGarry said.
He said citizenship by investment programmes at one point were the single largest source of government revenue in Vanuatu.
"You can imagine how attractive that made it to politicians who had always been very financially limited in terms of delivering programmes for people domestically.
"It's been very, very hard for the government to walk away from it, because there's just so much money to be made."
The Vanuatu Citizenship Commission chairman, Charles Maniel, has told the Vanuatu Daily Post it can't carry out any revocation until allegations are proven by a court of law.
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