Deloitte Cyprus falsified documents to help Roman Abramovich hide $10 billion in assets, investigation says
Deloitte, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, falsified corporate documents in order to help billionaire Roman Abramovich conceal assets and avoid taxes, according to a joint investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, BBC Panorama, The Guardian and OCCRP. The assets involved were worth more than $10 billion, the investigation said. The investigation found that Deloitte…
In a recent investigation, it has been revealed that accounting firms Deloitte Cyprus and Meritservus falsified over 1,000 corporate documents to assist billionaire Roman Abramovich in concealing assets and evading taxes. The investigation, conducted by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, BBC Panorama, The Guardian, and OCCRP, uncovered that the assets were worth more than $10 billion.
This scheme involved backdating records by up to five years, allowing Abramovich to avoid millions in tax payments. The documents also claimed that Kravin Investments, a Cyprus-registered company, received the $3 billion initial payment from the Sibneft share sale, which remained in Kravin's bank accounts and generated substantial tax liabilities.
Additionally, Deloitte prepared draft financial statements for Abramovich's Cyprus company, Amiscan Investments Ltd., which were then altered to remove the reported assets since their disclosure would have revealed the falsified documents. The investigation also found that Deloitte set up a "twin" company, Electus Investments Ltd., in the British Virgin Islands to replace Electus Investments Ltd. to avoid disclosing the assets.
Despite this, the scheme remained unnoticed for over two decades. Abramovich's lawyers stated that their clients were unaware of any falsification of documents and did not participate in or authorize such actions.
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