I quoted a specific part of what you said for a reason. The only dubious thing they did was get the cap for investment lowered from $1m to $500k. The lower cap

I quoted a specific part of what you said for a reason. The only dubious thing they did was get the cap for investment lowered from $1m to $500k. The lower cap does not change the fundamental issue you stated which was paying for citizenship. Merely changes how much they had to pay. So on that point, buying your way in is not bribery if the legal system allows it. It's merely paying for a service from the government. For example, I pay the government to register my car, to get permits for work I'm doing or get a concealed gun permit. In this case they're paying for citizenship. This is also merely one way to pay for citizenship, little different than the usual "pay $100+k for a US college degree so my child gets OTP and can apply for a H1B."