Three Russians who were given Cypriot residency permits and the valued European Union passport are facing charges of evading more than 800 million euros ($858.12 million) in taxes in their homeland.

The disgraced Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) — a scheme that rewarded applicants with passports in exchange for a qualifying investment of 2.2 million euros ($2.36 million) was ended on Nov. 1, 2020.

That was after revelations it was largely used by rich foreign criminals and money launders to hide their wealth on the island that was fighting a reputation as being a haven for them, which still persists.

The Italian site Rai3 said a criminal investigation in Russia led to charges against the three – Roman Alexandrovich, Kazorin Sergeyevits and Karskov Sergeyevits, authorities believing they were beneficiaries of the 1Xbet betting company, which they denied.

There weren’t any indications of a connection between them and the company but the company appears to be chanelled to Cyprus through a labyrinth of money trails, said Philenews of the report.

The 1XBet webpages operating in Canada and Brazil are owned by two Curacao-based business entities, which are managed by two Cyprus registered enterprises, Klafkaniro Limited and Kassifoni Enterprises, the report said.

The Briansk district in Russia put the suspects on an international wanted list, accusing them of developing betting software at 1XBet and providing technical suport for its webpage, without the necessary licenses from the Russian Federation’s tax authority.