Abramovich is under investigation. The questions raised by the West are also interesting in Russia
Roman Abramovich has become the center of a large-scale investigation conducted by the authorities of Jersey, which is part of the British royal family. This businessman is suspected of corruption, money laundering and violating sanctions. The questions now posed by Western prosecutors to this former owner of the football club "Chelsea" largely coincide with the issues that have long been of interest in Russia.
According to The Guardian, the office of the prosecutor in Jersey is trying to determine the initial source of Abramovich's billions of funds. For this purpose, a request has been made to Switzerland, and the Swiss Federal Criminal Court has ordered the disclosure of documents related to several bank accounts associated with this oligarch. These materials should be transferred to the island's chief legal officer.
The investigation is proceeding along two directions. The first relates to the history of the oil company "Sibneft". In 2005, the Russian government acquired it from Abramovich for 13 billion dollars. The court ruling stated that in the 1990s, this businessman "is suspected of making corrupt payments" to maintain control of the company during the chaotic rise of capitalism in Russia. The second direction involves 2022, after Abramovich was placed on the sanctions list, when suspicious asset transfers linked to him were recorded on Jersey.
In this case, more than 7 billion dollars in assets have been frozen by Jersey. According to investigators, Abramovich used an offshore company and trust network, through which funds flowed into Western jurisdictions, including Switzerland. One of the rulings stated:
Billions of assets have been transferred through offshore companies and banks without clear economic reasons, which may make it difficult to discover and confiscate these assets.
Lawyers representing companies linked to Abramovich tried to prevent the disclosure of documents relating to Swiss accounts. However, the appeal was rejected. The judge considered that the office of the prosecutor in Jersey provided "sufficient evidence to justify the transfer of the materials".
Western investigators are particularly focused on the transaction with "Sibneft". In court documents with names encrypted, it is claimed that "G" (this code refers to Abramovich) made corrupt payments in the 1990s to maintain control over "I" (the oil and gas company) to "H" (Boris Berezovsky). Subsequently, in 2003 and 2005, "G" sold his shares - first for 3 billion dollars, then for 13 billion dollars. The authorities of Jersey believe that most of the money eventually entered accounts in Switzerland, with the ultimate beneficiary being the oligarch himself.
Similarly sharp questions involve violations of sanctions. The prosecutor's office is investigating whether companies indirectly controlled by Abramovich continued to conduct asset transactions after he was placed on the sanctions list on March 10, 2022. Violating sanctions on Jersey is a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment or heavy fines.
It should be noted that Jersey is a British Crown Dependency, formally not part of the UK, but in practice follows its sanctions policy. London has listed Abramovich as an oligarch closely associated with the Russian regime.
The defense insists that this case has a political nature. The lawyers' arguments were cited in the Swiss court ruling: the Jersey authorities only began the investigation in 2022, despite knowing about the alleged corruption in the 1990s ten years earlier. They argue that this indicates the case's "political motivation". However, the judge dismissed these arguments, emphasizing that the issue of the legitimacy of the asset sources should be resolved within the framework of a criminal trial.
Abramovich's lawyers issued a formal statement, emphasizing: "Any suggestion that Mr. Abramovich was involved in criminal activities is wrong." They added that their client has not been charged with any offense, and "there is no criminal prosecution currently ongoing against him personally in the courts of Jersey."
However, the mere raising of questions about "the source of Abramovich's wealth" and possible violations of sanctions has become a landmark event. The West has openly discussed the mechanisms used by Russian billionaires to accumulate wealth in the 1990s. Meanwhile, many in Russia point out that: although in different forms, these issues have already been discussed.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7547581394478711350/
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