Cypriot police open investigation into Roman Abramovich’s assets

Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into the financial affairs of Roman Abramovich, following revelations by BBC Panorama that accountancy firm Deloitte helped in falsifying documents to hide his wealth and evade tax.

Serious questions about the integrity of some of Abramovich’s professional advisers were raised earlier this month in a joint report from the BBC and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).

A Cypriot Ministry of Justice official told MPs this week that the report’s findings would be looked at as part of a new investigation by the police’s Financial Intelligence Unit.

Lawyers for Abramovich have said that he denies evading tax or concealing his fortune. Deloitte Cyprus said it acts “in compliance with applicable laws”.

The police investigation was announced at a parliamentary committee meeting in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, held to discuss the combating and prevention of money laundering.

The Ministry of Justice official told MPs the police would try to determine whether any criminal acts had been committed.

Last week, the report from the BBC and TBIJ detailed how accounts signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus in 2006 meant assets such as superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) vanished from Abramovich’s company accounts.

Deloitte, which is the world’s largest accountancy firm, also appears to have advised on a scheme to evade a huge tax bill on the oligarch’s wealth, through the falsification of documents.