‘No Illegal Activities’ Found During Investigation of Temporary Residency Scheme – Finance Secretary

Lionel Leong Vai Tac, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, told media on Friday that there was ‘no illegal activities’ found during the investigation of a temporary residence scheme, which was previously criticised in a report by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) in July.

Leong however said the Macau SAR Government will continually review laws and processes in order to ‘improve’.

The CCAC report had criticised the scheme, which was promoted by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) for approving residency permits by applicants who had invested as little as MOP142,376 or had claimed to own businesses which were real estate purchases.

After the findings, IPIM head Jackson Chang had claimed that if anyone was found to be conducting illegal activities under the scheme, the temporary residency would be revoked.

The Temporary Residency Scheme for Investors has also come under scrutiny by legislator Ella Lei Cheng I, who had asked for a discussion on whether the Macau SAR Government should introduce a quantitative criteria to approve residencies, including a scoring system and strict monitoring mechanisms.

So far no illegal activities have been found, but Mr. Leong mentioned that several staff from IPIM are currently being sent for review, without specifying names.

Source: macaubusiness.com