Deloitte helped in falsifying documents to evade tax on Abramovich’s wealth
A BBC investigation alleges that the accounting firm Deloitte helped Roman Abramovich falsify documents to hide assets and evade taxes. While Abramovich's lawyers deny these claims, the report suggests significant financial manipulation occurred prior to the oligarch's UK sanctions.
Why it matters
The report raises serious questions about the role of major professional services firms in facilitating financial misconduct and tax evasion by high-net-worth individuals.
Figure caption, Watch: The documents that were falsified to allow Roman Abramovich to evade tax
The world's biggest accountancy firm helped in falsifying documents to hide Roman Abramovich's wealth and evade tax, BBC Panorama has found.
Accounts signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus meant assets such as superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) vanished from Abramovich's company accounts.
Deloitte also appears to have advised on a scheme to evade a huge tax bill on the oligarch's wealth through the falsification of documents.
Barrister Andrew Mitchell KC, an expert in financial services law, said Panorama's evidence showed the scheme was "straightforward" tax evasion and "it couldn't be more blatant".
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