Documents falsified to evade tax on Abramovich's wealth

What the report says

BBC Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism say leaked records show that advisers linked to Roman Abramovich used backdated paperwork and altered company accounts to hide assets and reduce tax exposure. The reporting focuses on offshore structures administered from Cyprus, with Deloitte Cyprus and the services firm MeritServus playing central roles in handling the paperwork.

According to the BBC, accounts signed off in 2006 caused about $672m in assets — including homes, yachts, private jets and other luxury property — to disappear from one Cypriot company’s filings after the documents were rewritten to make transfers appear to have happened years earlier. The investigation also points to another company, Kravin Investments, where backdated records were said to have been used to make interest-bearing funds look as if they belonged to a parent company in the British Virgin Islands, reducing a Cyprus tax liability.

Abramovich’s lawyers deny that he evaded tax or concealed wealth, and say there is no evidence he knew of, directed or approved any falsification. Deloitte Cyprus says it operates in line with applicable laws. The BBC notes that Abramovich has long been a prominent figure in the UK and was sanctioned after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The findings matter because they raise questions about offshore accounting practices, professional accountability and possible tax enforcement in Cyprus and elsewhere.