Vinod Adani, the elder brother of industrialist Gautam Adani, was among 66 Indians who got the citizenship of Cyprus through a “golden passport” scheme between 2014 and 2020, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

He applied for the scheme on August 3, 2016, and got Cypriot citizenship on November 25, 2016, according to data accessed by the Organized Crime And Corruption Reporting Project.

The “golden passport” scheme, also called the Cyprus Investment Programme, was introduced by the West Asian island country in 2007 to grant citizenship to financially prominent individuals with an aim to bring in foreign direct investments. The scheme was scrapped in 2020 after allegations that it was being misused to allow individuals facing criminal charges acquire Cypriot passports.

While Vinod Adani holds a Cyprus passport, he has been living in Dubai since the 1990s.

In February, United States-based investment firm Hindenburg Research alleged that Vinod Adani was the key negotiator of the Adani Group for raising funds from the international market.

The report claimed that the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate was involved in accounting fraud, improper use of tax havens and money-laundering.

Hindenburg Research had alleged that Vinod Adani was responsible for creating and managing a vast network of offshore shell entities meant for stock parking, market manipulation and laundering money, to help the conglomerate’s companies maintain their appearance of financial health.

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