Roman Abramovich's £508M in Mansions, Yachts and Jets Vanished From Company Accounts, Investigation Finds

A BBC Panorama investigation alleges that assets worth $672 million (£508 million), including mansions, yachts and private jets, were removed from the accounts of an Abramovich-linked Cyprus company using backdated paperwork. The findings, published on 12 October, draw on leaked files about a network of offshore companies administered from Cyprus.

Roman Abramovich's lawyers deny that he evaded tax or concealed his fortune. They say Panorama provided no evidence that he knew about, authorised or directed the falsification of any document, and that it was legitimate to rely on professional advice. Deloitte Cyprus said it acts in compliance with applicable laws.

How the Leaked Files Were Reported

Panorama's findings come from a leak that includes thousands of documents about Abramovich's finances and about offshore companies administered from Cyprus between 1995 and 2022. The BBC worked on the investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The BBC and other media partners have reported on the leaked files since 2023 as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' Cyprus Confidential project. The offshore companies were administered by a Limassol corporate services firm called MeritServus.

Deloitte owned MeritServus until 2005. After the two companies split, Panorama says, they continued to work closely together with Abramovich's associates.

Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and was forced to sell the club.

Luxury Assets Removed From Amiscan's Accounts

The first example concerns Amiscan Investments, a Cypriot company linked to Abramovich. Panorama says Deloitte Cyprus prepared draft accounts for 2003 that listed $672 million (£508 million) of luxury property and equipment.

They included a mansion in West Sussex, a luxury flat in London, an estate in the south of France, helicopters, private jets and several boats, among them the $147.5 million (about £112 million) yacht Pelorus.

According to Panorama, a new Cypriot law in 2006 required company accounts to be made public. It says advisers drew up a plan to transfer the assets to Amiscan's parent company in the British Virgin Islands and backdated the change by three years, to make it look as though it had happened in 2003.

Panorama says Deloitte Cyprus reviewed the backdated documents and described them as 'adequate'. When the 2003 accounts were signed off in 2006, only $75,000 (about £57,000) in assets remained. The programme says the leaked documents show Deloitte knew the accounts were misleading.

Billions Allegedly Moved on Paper

A second case involved Electus Investments, a Cypriot company that held a business fortune of more than $10 billion (about £7.6 billion), according to the investigation.

Panorama says MeritServus backdated documents to make it look as though the fortune belonged to another company with the same name, Electus Investments, registered in the British Virgin Islands, where accounts did not have to be made public.

It says emails show that in 2006 MeritServus acknowledged the fortune was owned by the Cypriot company. It then proposed to transfer the beneficial ownership on paper, backdated to 20 November 2003. When the Cypriot company's accounts were made public, they showed assets of just $145,000 (about £110,000).

Kravin Allegedly Avoided Tax on Interest

The third case concerns Kravin Investments, a Cypriot company that held almost $2 billion (about £1.5 billion) in the bank in 2003. It had earned large amounts of interest, which could have created a tax liability in Cyprus.

Panorama cites an August 2005 email from MeritServus to Abramovich's Russian associates, saying a plan had been devised after a meeting with Deloitte. The email said it would be necessary to change the 2003 and 2004 financial statements and accounting records. A month later, an associate replied: 'I agree'.

The programme says MeritServus then created backdated documents purporting to show that Kravin held the funds only on behalf of its British Virgin Islands parent, so that the company would not owe Cypriot tax.

Barrister Andrew Mitchell KC, who reviewed the evidence, said it showed the scheme was 'straightforward' tax evasion. 'If it happened in England and it was in the millions, His Majesty's Revenue and Customs would be thinking about a prosecution,' he said.

Abramovich and Deloitte Respond to Findings

Abramovich's lawyers said he was 'not involved in the day-to-day operation of those companies'. They said that where professional advisers proposed arrangements, 'reliance on that advice was entirely proper and legitimate'.

Deloitte Cyprus said it could not comment on the specific allegations because the documents were more than 20 years old and no longer accessible to it. MeritServus closed following the Cyprus Confidential leak.

The allegations concern the records of the companies and the work of their advisers, and the reporting does not describe any court or regulatory finding on them.