BBC Panorama reports Deloitte Cyprus helped falsify Abramovich wealth documents

The short version

• BBC News reports that Deloitte Cyprus helped falsify documents to hide Roman Abramovich's wealth and evade tax.[BBC News]
• Accounts signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus removed assets worth $672m (£508m) from Abramovich's company accounts.[BBC News]
• Abramovich's lawyers deny he evaded tax or directed the falsification, and Deloitte Cyprus says it acts in compliance with applicable laws.[BBC News]

Key facts

• Deloitte Cyprus assisted in falsifying documents to hide Abramovich's wealth and evade tax, according to BBC Panorama's investigation.[BBC News]
• Accounts Deloitte signed off in Cyprus meant assets such as superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) disappeared from Abramovich's company accounts.[BBC News]
• Deloitte reviewed backdated documents for Amiscan Investments and called them adequate for removing assets, even though the leaked documents show they were misleading.[BBC News]
• Abramovich's associates and MeritServus transferred assets to a British Virgin Islands parent company and backdated the change by three years to make it appear to have occurred in 2003.[BBC News]
• A MeritServus email from August 2005 said a plan had been devised after a meeting with Deloitte, and a Deloitte email from September 2005 said account changes would be required.[BBC News]
• For Electus Investments, MeritServus backdated documents to show the BVI company had held the $10bn fortune since 20 November 2003, making the Cypriot company appear to have just $145,000 in assets.[BBC News]
• MeritServus closed following the Cyprus Confidential leak.[BBC News]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.

• Documents falsified to evade tax on Abramovich's wealthBBC News - World
• Deloitte falsified documents to evade tax on Abramovich's wealthHacker News