Cyprus police are investigating the financial and tax affairs of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich
Kyiv • UNN
The investigation concerns events from 2003–2006 and possible tax evasion. It was launched following a report by The Guardian and its partners.
Cyprus police have launched an investigation into the financial and tax affairs of former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich following the publication by The Guardian and its media partners of a report on the management of the Russian billionaire oligarch’s sprawling business empire, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Details
During a hearing before a parliamentary committee in Cyprus, a senior police official said that law enforcement officers were examining events that took place between 2003 and 2006; the investigation is expected to last several months.
This followed an investigation by The Guardian, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the BBC into the management of the Russian billionaire oligarch’s sprawling business empire.
The report alleges that Abramovich’s aides — including employees of the Cyprus office of international auditing firm Deloitte — may have falsified documents describing the structure of his offshore assets.
According to the findings of the investigation, these actions — including the alleged backdating of key documents relating to assets worth billions of pounds sterling — may have helped Abramovich’s companies evade taxes and conceal assets.
The involvement of the Cypriot police became known during a regular meeting of the parliamentary committee on institutions, values and the commissioner for administration, reports CIReN, The Guardian’s Cypriot partner in the investigation.
Andreas Anastasiades, deputy director of the Crime Fighting Department, said that after the report was published, the police began gathering evidence. According to him, the investigation is likely to last six months, although he noted that the considerable amount of time that has passed since then complicates the process.
He also added that the police would contact the relevant state authorities to assess the available materials.
The Guardian approached representatives of Abramovich and Deloitte in Cyprus for comment.
The former owner of Chelsea had previously denied any wrongdoing, saying that he relied on advice from professional experts. Deloitte’s Cyprus office previously stated that the company "operates in accordance with all applicable laws" and also noted that it no longer had access to the relevant documents due to the passage of time.
The Guardian’s findings on Abramovich’s finances are based on material from a data leak known as "Cyprus Confidential." The trove, consisting of more than 500,000 documents, was initially obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), after which it was analyzed by various organizations, including The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the BBC.