Select a region
Island authorities were involved in the process of signing off the sale of Chelsea Football Club, it has been confirmed, amid reports of a probe into whether any of former owner Roman Abramovich’s wealth stashed in Jersey was made illicitly.
The £4.5bn takeover of the Premier League team by LA Dodgers’ part-owner Todd Boehly completed yesterday after the Russian oligarch agreed to the UK government’s terms of sale.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries issued a licence for its sale last night, with Number 10 stating that it was “now satisfied that the full proceeds of the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or any other sanctioned individual.”
It was believed that Jersey may have a crucial role to play in the sale process, as, in advance of the sale, club officials were reported to have requested that debt linked to parent company Fordstam, which counts Canadian national and Jersey resident Eugene Tenenbaum as a Director, be paid off to Jersey-based Camberley International Investments, which is registered at 50 La Colomberie, the same address as Zedra.
Pictured: The JFSC Companies Registry listing for Camberley International Investments.
Questions were also raised as to whether the Royal Court’s decision to place a ‘saisie judiciaire’ over an estimated $7bn in assets suspected to be linked to Mr Abramovich, all of which were either located in Jersey or held in Jersey-incorporated entities, would be a complicating factor.
This afternoon, a Jersey government spokesperson confirmed to Express: "The Government of Jersey has worked closely with UK partners in relation to the sale of Chelsea Football Club.
“Consents in relation to sanctions have been issued by the appropriate Jersey authorities.”
They declined to comment further on the sale or reports of a fresh probe contained in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
Quoting sources “familiar with the situation”, the US news outlet claimed Jersey “authorities” were conducting what they described as a “wide-ranging preliminary probe into Roman Abramovich’s wealth held on the island, including whether a business partner helped the billionaire try to evade U.K. sanctions”.
Mr Abramovich, who was previously offered residency in Jersey but did not take it up, made much of his fortune via the creation and sale of oil company Sibneft. He sold his stake in the company to Gazprom in 2005 in a deal worth more than $13bn.
“The probe, which hasn’t been previously reported, is also looking at how Mr. Abramovich acquired oil companies in the 1990s that made him wealthy in post-Soviet Russia,” the report continued.
It said the island was "trying to determine whether any of that money was made illicitly or if trustees of his wealth didn’t follow regulations", adding that "the probe is still at an early stage, and hasn’t reached the level of being a formal investigation" and that “authorities haven’t accused anyone of wrongdoing.”
Jersey’s prosecuting authorities have issued no statement on the matter, and Express is yet to receive a reply from the island’s key financial regulatory authority, the Jersey Financial Services Commission, in response to a request for comment.
Jersey's Royal Court has previously declined to confirm to Express the nature of the assets that it has seized or the individuals and/or companies that may be involved.
It noted that saisies in general may “make reference to details relating to persons or entities who are entitled at this point to privacy”.
A Guardian investigation published in April claimed that the ownership of a superyacht linked to Mr Abramovich was transferred to a Jersey company on the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Official figures up to the end of last month show that Jersey firms have tracked down and frozen more than £1bn in Russian assets.
This is roughly 200 times the amount in Guernsey.
Russian assets frozen by Jersey firms top £1bn
Jersey firms froze £700m in Russian assets in March
Jersey seizes '$7bn assets' suspected to be linked to Abramovich
Abramovich yacht 'moved to Jersey company on day of Ukraine invasion'
Police and regulator work to track down Russian wealth
Abramovich: Too "risky" for Switzerland... but not for Jersey?
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.