In brief
Investigating a vault of leaked documents, Panorama reveals that the world’s largest accountancy firm was complicit in falsifying tax records for Roman Abramovich. Backdated financial statements flattened untaxed wealth, re‑routing billions to shell companies in Cyprus and the BVI. The scheme claimed legal compliance yet bypassed statutory duties, prompting calls for legal action. The findings expose a wider network of offshore advisers aiding oligarchs in evading tax and laundering fortunes.
Panorama has shown that the world’s biggest accountancy firm was involved in forging documents to hide Roman Abramovich’s wealth, enabling him to pay less tax on a fortune that swelled past billions. The story hinges on a trove of leaked records that detail how Deloitte in Cyprus approved forged accounts, erasing luxury properties, yachts and private jets worth $672m from corporate ledgers.
In 2006, Deloitte signed off on balance sheets that had been backdated to 2003, removing assets from Amiscan Investments and making the company’s books appear almost empty. That single act, repeated for several offshore entities, erased more than $10bn of holdings, including the massive Electus Cyprus trust that housed Abramovich’s empire. The scheme relied on a chain of shell companies in the British Virgin Islands where disclosure rules were lax.
Financial‑services lawyers and former accountants describe the fraud as “straight‑forward” and “violation of statutory duty,” arguing that similar practices would likely trigger prosecution by UK tax authorities if noticed today. Admittedly, the documents are over 20 years old, and Deloitte claims the files are no longer accessible.
The scandal feeds into a long‑running investigation of Abramovich’s conduct in the UK, where his Chelsea Football Club stake was seized after sanctions were imposed on him in 2022. Lawyers for the oligarch maintain that he did not instruct the fraud, but the evidence indicates a pre‑planned, corporate‑level scheme that crossed international borders.
For viewers, Watch the full Panorama episode on iPlayer or tune into BBC One at 8pm BST on Monday.
