Hungarian authorities raised no objections against granting Atiya Khoury a Hungarian residence permit when he had already been on the US sanction list for supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Advertisements about Hungarian residency through real estate investment first appeared in China, now in Vietnam. This is not a state-run program, but it is partly organised by companies that were also involved in the government’s controversial residency bond program.

The MP was informed earlier that Hungarian authorities found no risk during Atiya Khoury’s security screening.

The Hong Kong-based company now claims that it had not been circumspect enough. According to the government, the program is a plain lie.

Hungarian authorities do not plan to carry out further investigations or to revoke the permanent residence permit of two the two Syrian men with controversial backgrounds named in the joint investigation of Direkt36 and 444. According to the Immigration Office, one of them did not buy residency bonds, contrary to what a close relative of his told Direkt36.

People who could pose serious security risks for Hungary and the European Union were granted residency through a controversial Golden Visa scheme run by the Hungarian government.

Chinese citizens have been flocking to Hungary. But since public outrages forced the suspension of the country’s Golden Visa program last year, these new guests have begun to wonder if they’ll get their investment back.