Roman Abramovich Denies Tax Fraud Allegations Amid BBC Report

Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, has denied allegations of tax fraud and document falsification as reported by the BBC. His legal representatives, Kobre & Kim, issued a statement on Tuesday asserting that there is no evidence Abramovich was aware of or approved any falsification of documents.

The allegations stem from a BBC investigation claiming that assets worth $672 million, including superyachts and private jets, were concealed from the accounts of one of Abramovich's companies. The investigation indicated that these accounts were signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus in 2006.

The lawyers emphasized that Abramovich was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the companies in question and denied any wrongdoing. The BBC's Panorama program reported that associates of Abramovich allegedly concealed wealth from Cypriot authorities, involving companies valued at nearly $2 billion and over $10 billion.

The investigation was based on leaked documents from 1995 to 2022. Abramovich's wealth has been under scrutiny since the onset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, leading to UK sanctions and the forced sale of Chelsea in May 2022.