Reported by Juliette Garside and Rob Davies

(Summary shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/07/roman-abramovich-under-investigation-jersey-corruption-money-laundering-claims)

Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea FC owner, is facing a criminal investigation in Jersey over allegations of corruption and money laundering tied to the origins of his vast fortune. The inquiry focuses on Abramovich’s early business dealings in Russia during the turbulent 1990s, particularly the creation and sale of his oil company, Sibneft. Court documents from Switzerland reveal that judges ordered the release of records from Swiss bank accounts linked to Abramovich after Jersey’s attorney general requested them. These documents are expected to shed light on the flow of money through offshore companies and trusts managed from the Channel Islands.

Jersey authorities froze more than $7 billion of Abramovich’s assets shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, part of a broader international move to sanction Russian oligarchs tied to the Kremlin. Their investigation has two main strands: suspected corruption payments Abramovich allegedly made in the 1990s while consolidating control of Sibneft, and potential sanctions breaches in 2022, when his companies may have shifted assets in defiance of restrictions. Lawyers for Abramovich have strongly denied any wrongdoing, insisting the claims are politically motivated.

Central to the inquiry is the $13 billion windfall Abramovich received when he sold Sibneft to the Russian government in 2005. Jersey prosecutors argue that corruption and money laundering may have tainted this fortune. Abramovich’s former associate, Boris Berezovsky, had previously claimed in a London court that Abramovich paid him vast sums for “krysha” (political protection) in the 1990s. Although Abramovich won that case in 2012, the testimony highlighted the murky mix of politics, patronage, and business that characterized Russia’s post-Soviet privatization era.

Swiss judges reviewing the Jersey requests agreed that there was sufficient evidence to justify the transfer of documents, noting that billions were moved across borders through offshore structures without clear economic rationale. They found such movements could obstruct asset tracing and confiscation, strengthening Jersey’s case to continue its probe. At the same time, Abramovich’s lawyers argue that the timing of the investigation—opened decades after the alleged misconduct—undermines its legitimacy.

While Abramovich maintains he has not been charged with any crime, the case underscores the widening international scrutiny of Russian oligarchs’ fortunes since the Ukraine war. Jersey, with its reputation as a financial hub and tax haven, now sits at the center of a complex legal battle over assets linked to one of the world’s most prominent billionaires. Whether the proceedings will result in charges remains uncertain, but the investigation has already peeled back another layer of the opaque financial networks that fueled Abramovich’s rise from post-Soviet trader to global tycoon.