Roman Abramovich Update, January 2025
The corrupt russian oligarch thug and his scams have cost the UK tax payer over £500 million in tax avoidance schemes.
Roman Obramovich investigation update: 28 January 2025
James Oliver, Harriet Agerholm and Will Dahlgreen - a BBC and File on 4 have run an investigation on Abramovich’s tax evasion, using Cyprus to hide and launder his money across the west, dodging billions of pounds of tax liabilities through hedge funds worth over $6 billion in 200 hedge funds and off-shore shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus.
Much of the report was published by previous investigations from the likes of the ICIJ, and Beefy has also published numerous deep dives into Abramovich and his shady history and direct connections to Putin and the Kremlin. See the references and sources for sources and other threads. Here is a summary of some of the scams, please use the reference links to read full reports by credible reporting outlets too.
Chelsea Football Cub shame:
Abramovich’s used his illicit gains from corruption in russia to buy Chelsea Football Club in London, as a tax free revenue scam.
Chelsea football club was frozen from Abramovich 3 years ago when russia invaded Ukraine. The £2.5 billion from the clubs sale has been held in a UK account and has still not been released - to assist Ukraine in it’s reconstruction. Abramovich has frustrated the release of the money and the UK government has not acted to resolve this. See the links to other threads orm Beefy on the frustration of the sale, by Abramovich and the inaction of the UK Government to expedite the distribution of the money to Ukraine - as intended.
22 years ago, Chelsea fans didn’t concern themselves about where the money money came from, through a 36 year old russian billionaire. Billions of dollars made by Abramovich, was fraudulently made through the sale of a state asset Sidneft for a Putin cut price of $130million, the asset was then sold by Abramovich for $12 billion, nearer it’s true value. Again this was with Putin’s permission.
Using yachts to hide his wealth:
Using extraordinary layers of companies, shell companies and stooge directors were used to hide his ownership of assets, from artwork and six superyachts to Chelsea football club. The ICIJ investigation also revealed that Swiss bank Credit Suisse loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Abramovich’s offshore companies, which used U.S. stocks as collateral, two new leaks reveal. The secretly-owned firms loaned each other massive sums that were mysteriously returned or written off, in what experts said could be a scheme to obscure the origin of the funds.
One of the scams Abramovich used, was to buy his yachts for commercial purposes, which transactions were VAT free - as opposed to buying them for private ownership - which would be VAT’able.
The fraudster billionaire, who was sanctioned by the UK in March 2022 over his connection to Vladimir Putin's regime, bought five luxury yachts over the course of the 2000s that were involved in the tax scheme.
Among them was the 115m (377ft) Pelorus, which he reportedly lent to Chelsea footballer John Terry for his honeymoon in 2007 - and Eclipse, which at 162.5m (533ft) was once the largest private yacht in the world and worth an estimated $700m (£559m).
This included refuelling the yachts, where not VAT was paid, often on refuelling deals worth over $1 million. BBC investigators have revealed the yachts were being used by Abramovich and not for commercial activity through chartering the yachts. He was photographed on the yachts when they were meant to be hired out. BBC verified tracked the yachts to locations where the shipping data said they should not be.
The commercial charters that his yachts were undertaking were between Abramovich owned companies, showing the charter activity to be fictitious, with Cyprus and Abramovich companies in the British Virgin Islands, another hotbed for international crime and opaque tax arrangements for russian oligarchs.
See Beefy’s deep dive into the corruption and off-shore tax scams by the British Virgin Isles here:
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/british-virgin-islands?r=4r2ohh
Evidence from secret Blue Ocean documents confirm the intent to avoid paying VAT for the yachts or goods and services for the yachts. It was a determined effort to mislead Italian and UK tax authorities. This was not tax avoidance - it was tax evasion, dodging millions in VAT. Even though the Italian authorities believed Abramovichs Blue Marine scam, Cyprus was already investigating Abramovich for tax evasion in Cyprus. The investigation was buried, and Cyprus lived up to it’s reputation as little Moscow, welcoming Oligarchs as a gateway for visas and russian corrupt wealth into the EU.
Russians continue to enjoy russian life, shops, services and property in Cyprus. The lax company and banking sector laws have allowed russians to hide their wealth in plain sight. Global accounting giant Deloitte and Touché were implicated in the scam through a subsidiary called MeritServus - who administered some of Abramovich’s hidden wealth. MeritServus was split off in 2005 after new laws were brought in Cyprus and Deloitte then denied all knowledge of Deloitte Cyprus - since proven to be untrue, with a senior Deloitte director signing off on the scams for Abramovich’s yacht scams to avoid VAT.
Cyprus sued MeritServus for €40 million, which was not paid and the company was simply dissolved.
Abramovich has dodged over £500 million in British taxes with his scams and the HMRC are yet to investigate and recover the scammed tax fraud from Abramovich.
Switzerland, Cyprus & British Virgin Isles - havens for corrupt Russian wealth:
ICIJ reported that Abramovich appears to have been an important client for MeritServus, a corporate service provider initially established by global auditing firm Deloitte in 1988 that became independent in 2005.
Internal risk-assessment documents drawn up by MeritServus show it played down corruption and money laundering risks, when it came to Abramovich.
In an undated “client risk indicator” form for Abramovich’s company Anadoria Investments Limited, MeritServus said he had “never” been a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), a term used to designate individuals whose political links make them a high risk for bribery and corruption. Abramovich did in fact qualify as a PEP, not just as a billionaire close to Putin but also because of his position as governor of the remote Arctic region of Chukotka from 2000 to 2008, and a lawmaker for the region.
Leaked documents from Credit Suisse and the Cypriot service provider MeritServus reveal Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich held over two billion in assets or cash across Credit Suisse, UBS and Barclays.
Abramovich’s ownership of several offshore companies was obscured via a complex corporate structure involving an opaque trust and an intermediary company owned by MeritServus.
The scheme to dodge tax on the yachts - and other secrets of the sanctioned oligarch's corporate empire - is laid bare in over 400,000 files and 72,000 emails leaked from a Cypriot corporate service provider, MeritServus.
Off shore tax havens as a loophole for Oligarchs:
Abramovich’s offshore firms owned blue-chip U.S. stocks which they used as collateral for big loans from Credit Suisse, and engaged in a pattern of mysterious loans between one another that experts said could raise red flags for potential money laundering.
Britain and Cyprus were aware of the scams and did nothing about it, they all profited from the influx of russian money onto the island. Further tax evasion is evident where profits from shell companies in the BVI should have been subject to British tax. His accountants claim that no tax was due as they companies were BVI registered. The law however requires that the tax break is only applicable if the company owners were based in the BVI and the companies were run from the BVI. They were not - they were run by Abramovich thousands of miles away, including from Abramovich’s house in Walton on Surrey.
See my thread here for info on the BVI scams with russians and criminals the world over:
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/british-virgin-islands?r=4r2ohh
Where is Vatnik Abramovich hiding now?
Abramovich now reportedly divides his time between Istanbul, Tel Aviv and the Russian resort of Sochi.
Israel are aware of the documented fraudulent activities and tax scams by Abramovich - but continue to welcome him and other corrupt russian Oligarchs with open arms, with their large money bags from Russian crime syndicates and the murderous Putin regime.
Here are Beefy’s deep dives into Abramovich, his past and his scams:
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/chelsea-vatnik-roman-abramovich?r=4r2ohh
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/abramovich-the-corrupt-russian-oligarch?r=4r2ohh
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/abramovich-still-hasnt-donated-proceeds?r=4r2ohh
See Beefy’s thread on the off shore tax and crime haven of the British Virgin Isles here:
https://beefeaterresearch.substack.com/p/british-virgin-islands?r=4r2ohh
The detailed BBC report and source is available here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gprgyr707o
If you enjoy my threads, please consider supporting my work on Patreon or BuymeACoffee!
Thank You! to those who have supported me on Patreon or buymeacoffee, you are simply awesome.
buymeacoffee.com/beefeaterfella
patreon.com/Beefeater_Fella
beefeaterresearch.substack.com
BeefeaterFella youtube.com/@beefeaterfella
I read the BBC's report when it appeared on my news feed. The lengths that Abramovich went to disguise his tax evasion was staggering. I shouldn't have been surprised. This is standard practice for any self respecting russian oligarch.