Ministers must come clean over "golden visas" for "Putin's cronies" amid questions over VIP treatment for Kremlin-linked oligarchs, the government has been told.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman faces pressure to release a report into the controversial scheme, which was abolished in February amid Home Office corruption fears.
Until then, investors who ploughed cash into UK registered companies could qualify for Tier 1 visas, allowing them and their families to move to the UK.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran has called for the release of a long-awaited review - commissioned four years ago - into the golden visa scheme.
She told The Mirror: “Putin’s cronies have treated London as their playground for years - helped for many years by the golden visa scheme.
“We still don’t know the scale to which the Scheme was used by Kremlin-linked oligarchs, some of whom will likely have acquired British citizenship. So it is vital that the Conservative Government come clean, and publish the crucial report into golden visas.
“It’s staggering that Ministers have failed to publish the report, over four years after its commission. It must be released without delay. If the Conservative Government have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.”
Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd opened a review in 2018, investigating the basis on which more than 700 wealthy Russians were permitted to settle in the UK.
The review had been expected to be published earlier this year.
Challenged in the House of Commons over whether she would be the Home Secretary to finally release the review, Ms Braverman said: "Well. I think when it comes to golden visas I was very proud of the action this government took in relation to Russian individuals following the invasion where we stopped the sale of golden visas to particular individuals.
"But the issuance of those visas, excuse me, of golden visas to those particular individuals from Russia, I agree, there's more work we can do and I'm very keen to look at it."
Tier 1 visas were withdrawn by previous Home Secretary Priti Patel following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In an announcement at the time the Home Office said the visas had "been under constant review" and admitted that some cases had "given rise to security concerns".
This included "people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption", officials said.
The government last week declined to say when the review will finally be shared by MPs.
A government spokesperson told The Mirror: “There is no place for dirty money in the UK, not least that linked to Russia.
"We have taken robust action to crack down on illicit finance, including by toughening our enforcement action and transparency requirements in order to crack down on corrupt elites, and earlier this year we set out our plans to go further than ever in bearing down on anyone who seeks to abuse our financial system.
“We are one of the most active countries in the world in terms of financial sanctions enforcement, and our experts are on constant alert to combat the threat.”
