Cyprus police open investigation into financial affairs of Roman Abramovich
Questions about the integrity of some of Abramovich's professional advisers, were raised earlier this month.
Cyprus police have launched an inquiry into Roman Abramovich’s financial affairs after BBC Panorama revealed that accountancy firm Deloitte helped falsify documents to conceal his wealth and avoid tax.
Questions about the conduct of some of Abramovich’s professional advisers were first raised earlier this month in a joint investigation by the BBC and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).
A Cypriot Ministry of Justice official told MPs this week that the findings would be examined as part of a new probe by the police’s Financial Intelligence Unit.
Abramovich’s lawyers say he denies evading tax or hiding his fortune. Deloitte Cyprus said it operates “in compliance with applicable laws”.
The investigation was disclosed at a parliamentary committee session in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital, which was focused on combating and preventing money laundering.
The Ministry of Justice official told MPs that police would seek to establish whether any criminal offences had been committed.
Last week, the BBC and TBIJ reported that accounts approved by Deloitte in Cyprus in 2006 caused assets including superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) to disappear from Abramovich’s company accounts.
Deloitte, the world’s largest accountancy firm, also appears to have advised on a plan to avoid a massive tax bill on the oligarch’s wealth through falsified documents.
Deloitte in Cyprus appears to have advised Abramovich’s company on a scheme to evade tax.
The evidence came from leaked files, including thousands of documents on Abramovich’s finances and the activities of a network of offshore companies run from Cyprus between 1995 and 2022.
The BBC and media partners including TBIJ, the Guardian, Paper Trail Media, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network have been reporting on the leaked files since 2023 as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Andreas Anastasiades, a representative of the Cypriot police, told MPs that the Financial Crime Unit had already started collecting evidence and said the investigation was expected to take several months.
Asked by the BBC whether the inquiry would examine Deloitte’s role, Andreas Anastasiades said: “We will look at any company or person who may be involved.”
He added: “We will see if there has been fraud or if some documents have been manipulated.”
Abramovich’s lawyers say Panorama has produced no evidence that the billionaire knew about, approved or directed the falsification of any document. They also say his companies were entitled to rely on professional advice.
Deloitte Cyprus says it cannot comment because the documents are more than 20 years old and are no longer accessible.
The BBC and TBIJ have previously reported on a tax arrangement that enabled Abramovich to avoid millions in tax on the running costs of his yachts.
After that report, two former company directors were indicted and are due to go on trial in Cyprus next month over €25m in unpaid VAT.
Mr Abramovich’s lawyers previously told the BBC that he had “always obtained independent expert professional tax and legal advice” and “acted in accordance” with it.