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And to Parliament, Harris laid the blame on predecessor Denzil Douglas, whom he ousted in a February election.

“And all he wanted was money, money for his own sake, and he was prepared to remove that which distinguishes us from other people and countries and other jurisdictions … to allow the illicit actors to be able to move about with disguise,” he was quoted as saying by the Observer.

Of course, it’s still possible to buy passports in St. Kitts and Nevis, but Harris has insisted that his government has smoothed out the excesses of the previous Labour government.

“The new government, which I now lead … has worked hard to strengthen the program to ensure that, by and large, no illicit actor can participate,” said Harris in an interview earlier this month.

Officially known as the Citizenship by Investment program, it allows foreign nationals to purchase St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship via either a $400,000 real estate purchase, or a $250,000 donation to the country’s Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.

Debuted in 1984, it is a cheaper version of programs run throughout the western world, including Canada and the United States.

Until it was cancelled earlier this year, the Canadian Immigrant Investor Program, for instance, offered a path to citizenship for anybody with a net worth of more than $1.6 million prepared to give a tax-free $800,000 loan to the federal government.

Foreign passport-buyers remain a critical part of the St. Kitts and Nevis economy. For the 2014 fiscal year, citizenship fees were cited as providing nearly half of the government’s $767.9-million budget.