Jersey freezes £5.4bn of assets linked to Roman Abramovich | Roman Abramovich
Jersey has frozen more than $7bn (£5.4bn) in assets linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
The Royal Court of Jersey announced on Wednesday that it had imposed “a formal freezing order” on “assets estimated at over US$7 billion which are believed to be linked to Mr Abramovich and which are either located at Jersey or held by Entities incorporated in Jersey”.
The government of Jersey, a self-governing British crown dependency favored by the world’s wealthy for its very low taxes and reputation for strict banking secrecy, said local police raided several properties linked to Abramovich.
“Search warrants were executed by the States of Jersey Police on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at premises in Jersey suspected of being connected to the business activities of Roman Abramovich,” the island’s law enforcement officers department said. in a press release.
The Guardian revealed last week that a 50m superyacht linked to Abramovich was transferred to a Jersey company on the day of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The department would not comment on the yacht and said it would not provide any additional details. A spokesperson for Abramovich did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The yacht, Aquamarine, is the fifth ship to be linked to Abramovich. On February 24, ownership of the yacht passed from a company previously controlled by Abramovich to one of his close associates, Russian businessman David Davidovich.
Davidovich said he was the owner of Aquamarine as well as Jersey-based MHC Jersey Ltd, which is registered as the owner of the yacht on the MarineTraffic maritime database.
Abramovich was subject to British sanctions on March 10 after ministers accused him of having “clear links” to Putin’s regime and being part of a group of wealthy Russian businessmen who had ” blood on the hands”.
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Jersey has pledged to follow the UK’s sanctions regime and “take targeted action to prevent abuse of Jersey service providers or structures”.
Last month, the island’s external relations minister, Ian Gorst, said the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) and the island’s police would co-operate “with international authorities, particularly those in the UK United and the Transatlantic Task Force, where potential activities or assets are identified”.
Earlier this month, the Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda said it was willing to help seize two superyachts belonging to Abramovich moored in its ports.