Comprehensive Risk Profiles Helped a Citizen by Investment Program Make Informed Decisions

Background & Challenges

A well-known citizenship by investment program in the Caribbean solicited BDO to conduct due diligence services on applicants for secondary citizenship in their country. During our initial, independent investigative efforts for these individuals, it became clear that more than 20 of the individuals were employed with the same company and had similar personal profiles.

Approach

The program required BDO’s assistance to establish comprehensive risk profiles of the individuals and to identify their motivation for applying for citizenship. While public records research and on-the-ground investigative efforts did not identify significant red flags for a majority of the individuals, the company's founder was identified as the subject of adverse media reports, was named in a criminal investigation, and was a party in several legal matters in the British Virgin Islands and the United States. The company with which the individuals were affiliated was known to be highly controversial. Research revealed that the company had been registered in numerous countries, but it was either forced to deregister or deregistered on its own accord due to strict regulations in the jurisdictions, as well as threats to its network security.

Client Impact

Our team concluded that the applicants were attempting to identify a jurisdiction in which they could securely domicile their company and employees. The information uncovered by BDO during the investigation allowed the citizenship by investment program to mitigate its financial and reputational risk and allowed the program to make informed decisions on the applications.