McDowell urged to revoke fraudster’s Irish passport
Viktor Kozeny is one of nearly 200 people who received an Irish passport under the controversial passports for investment scheme which was suspended in 1996.
Despite having his passport revoked from the Caribbean island of Granada where he paid £40,000 for citizenship, Mr Kozeny still retains his Irish passport, which he received in 1995. Labour Party justice spokesman Joe Costello last night called on Justice Minister Michael McDowell to revoke Mr Kozeny’s passport along with that of another fraudster British-born Sheridan Cox.
Mr Cox allegedly conned thousands of people out of their life savings as part of a stock market fraud in Taiwan involving more than €700m.
“The passports may well have been granted in good faith by the Irish authorities at the time, but it surely must be a matter of considerable concern that international fugitives are travelling the world on Irish passports, essentially granted in return for financial payments,” said Mr Costello. He said unless the passports were withdrawn Ireland was in danger of being seen as a haven for international criminals. “This diminishes the reputation of the Irish passport and may create an impression that Ireland is some sort of safe haven for international crooks,” he said.
Calling for Mr McDowell to examine how the passports could be revoked, Mr Costello said all passports granted to non-nationals under the passports for investment scheme should be cancelled if the holders were wanted for criminal offences.
“Part of the problem is that there was never any statutory basis for the operation of the passport for investment scheme and there are therefore no specific provisions for the withdrawal of passports granted under the scheme,” he said.
Mr Costello suggested the Government could re-examine the passport application files to establish if there was any evidence of fraud or misrepresentation which would allow an immediate cancellation of the passports concerned.
Viktor Kozeny made a fortune out of Czech privatisation in the early 1990s when citizens were offered vouchers to invest in share holdings. His business, Harvard Capital & Consulting, took advantage of the privatisation of Czech industry in 1993 and invited people to give their vouchers to him, with the promise of an impressive return. It is estimated that more than 800,000 gave over their vouchers, but when share prices fell, their life savings were wiped out while Kozeny made millions.
Kozeny has recently been declared a fugitive and charged with fraud by the Czech authorities. He is believed to be living in the Bahamas.
A spokeswoman for Mr McDowell said that under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act the minister was empowered to revoke citizenship if fraud was involved in procuring that citizenship.
