In brief
Deloitte’s Cyprus office is implicated in a sprawling fraud that erased a $672m fortune from Rome Abramovich’s ship‑in‑the‑sea accounts. Analysing leaked files from the Cyprus Confidential investigation, Panorama shows how back‑dated financial statements and falsified vouchers removed luxury assets from public reports, allowing massive tax evasion. While Abramovich’s lawyers deny knowledge or consent, experts argue the scheme was a straightforward break of legal duties. The findings raise questions about the integrity of global accounting practices and the reach of offshore networks.
A joint investigation by BBC Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered a fraud scheme that saw the world’s biggest accountancy firm forge financial documents to erase a €508 million ($672 million) fortune from Roman Abramovich’s offshore accounts.
The fraud involved back‑dated statutory accounts issued by Deloitte Cyprus in 2006 for the oligarch’s company Amiscan Investments. The documents hid luxury land, private jets and a small fleet of boats, including the Pelorus – worth over $147 million – and removed them from the public financial statements via a three‑year retroactive change.
A lawyer specialising in financial services law described the scheme as “straightforward tax evasion” and warned that if the evidence reached the UK courts the case would merit prosecution. Dmitry said, “A reputable firm should never bend rules to facilitate such wrongdoing.”
According to the leaked files, Abramovich’s advisers at MeritServus – a Cyprus corporate‑services firm that once belonged to Deloitte – drafted a series of emails in 2005 directing the back‑dating of fiscal records for 2003 and 2004. The goal was to transfer ownership of €518 million of cash to a British Virgin Islands shell, effectively making it invisible to Cypriot tax authorities.
Further, the consortium sought to erase an entire €10 billion fortune held by Electus Investments. Through another round of fake documents, they made it appear the BVI company owned the assets since 2003, while the Cypriot company reported less than €150 k.
The BBC’s Panorama programme is available on iPlayer and will air on BBC One at 20:00 BST on Monday 12 October. Watch now.
