The key facts

  • Cyprus police opened a case into Abramovich's financial affairs following the BBC and TBIJ investigation
  • According to the investigation, Deloitte's 2006 audit concealed $672 million in assets and helped evade taxes
  • Abramovich denies tax evasion; Deloitte Cyprus declined to comment

Investigation Opened

Cyprus police have opened an investigation into Roman Abramovich's financial affairs following publications by BBC Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The launch of the investigation was announced by a representative of Cyprus's Ministry of Justice at a meeting of a parliamentary committee in Nicosia dedicated to combating money laundering. The case is being handled by the police's financial intelligence unit; police representative Andreas Anastasiades told deputies that evidence gathering has already begun and the investigation is expected to last several months. According to him, the police will check whether criminal offences were committed, examine any companies and individuals who may be involved, and establish whether fraud or document manipulation took place.

The Essence of the Publications

The BBC and TBIJ investigation, published on 12 October, is based on a leak of thousands of documents about Abramovich's finances and a network of offshore companies administered from Cyprus between 1995 and 2022, as part of the Cyprus Confidential project by the ICIJ consortium. The Guardian, Paper Trail Media, OCCRP and the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network also joined the investigation. According to the publications, reports signed by Deloitte in Cyprus in 2006 allowed assets — superyachts, mansions and private jets — worth $672 million (£508 million) to disappear from Abramovich's companies' reporting. Deloitte, the world's largest audit firm, according to the investigation, also advised on a scheme to evade a large tax through document falsification.

The Parties' Positions

Abramovich's lawyers stated that he denies tax evasion or concealment of wealth, that Panorama presented no evidence that the billionaire knew about, sanctioned or directed the document falsification, and that the companies were entitled to rely on professional advice. They previously told the BBC that Abramovich 'always received independent expert tax and legal advice' and acted in accordance with it. Deloitte Cyprus said it acts 'in accordance with applicable legislation' but cannot comment because the documents are more than 20 years old and no longer available.

Related Case

The BBC and TBIJ previously reported on a tax scheme that allowed Abramovich to avoid paying millions in taxes on the operating costs of his yachts. As a result of that investigation, two former company directors have been charged and will appear in court in Cyprus next month in a case concerning €25 million in unpaid VAT.

Close-up portrait of Roman Abramovich with short grey hair and a neatly trimmed grey beard, wearing a dark suit jacket and white shirt. He is looking slightly over one shoulder toward the camera. The background is softly blurred, with a light-coloured wall and a dark vertical panel visible.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - his lawyers have said he denies concealing his fortune

A view of Deloitte's offices in Limassol, Cyprus, looking up at a tall, curved building in honey-coloured stone and tinted glass, with blue sky above and a sunburst of reflected light at the bottom of the image.
Image caption,

Deloitte in Cyprus appears to have advised Abramovich's company on a scheme to evade tax

Composite image with Roman Abramovich on the left and a view of the superyacht