Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea FC sale cash may be under investigation as ‘proceeds of crime’

Original article by Rob Davies

Jersey authorities may be investigating whether cash raised by Roman Abramovich’s 2022 sale of Chelsea FC amounts to the proceeds of crime, according to documents filed at Companies House on Wednesday, potentially complicating a row with the UK government over how the money will be used.

Accounts for Fordstam Ltd, the company through which the billionaire Russian oligarch owned Chelsea, show that the proceeds of the sale – currently frozen and gathering interest in a Barclays Bank account – have risen to £2.4bn.

The accounts also reveal that the fate of the money could be affected by a corruption and money-laundering investigation by the Jersey authorities into Abramovich’s business affairs. Abramovich has previously denied any wrongdoing.

As the Guardian and media partners have revealed, Abramovich funded Chelsea via loans routed through a complex network of offshore companies, helped by a fortune made from the oilfields of Siberia.

These loans included £1.4bn provided interest free by Abramovich’s Jersey-based company, Camberley International Investments Ltd.

Fordstam’s accounts state that this loan “may be affected by an ongoing criminal investigation initiated by the attorney general of Jersey, into whether certain assets (potentially including the net proceeds) amount to the proceeds of crime”.

They add: “It remains unclear as to what steps can lawfully be taken in relation to the loan while that investigation remains ongoing.”

Jersey prosecutors are looking into the origins of the oligarch’s wealth, acquired during the chaotic rise of capitalism in Russia in the 1990s and 2000s.

Abramovich, through his lawyers, has previously said that any suggestion he was involved in criminal activity was false.

However, disclosures in Fordstam’s accounts could add another layer of complexity to a battle between Abramovich and the UK government over the release of the proceeds of the Chelsea sale.

The cash has been frozen since 2022, when sanctions were imposed by the UK and EU on Abramovich in response to the invasion of Ukraine over his closeness to Vladimir Putin.

The oligarch has insisted that the money is his to allocate despite the international sanctions imposed on his assets, prompting a threat of legal action from the British state, which wants to ensure that none of the cash is used outside Ukraine.

Questions have also been raised about whether the “net proceeds” of the Chelsea sale could be reduced to less than £1bn by any demand Abramovich might make for repayment of the Camberley loan. Repayment would require a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, a unit of the Treasury.

Fordstam’s accounts also confirm that Chelsea FC’s current owners have a £150m buffer against any financial sanction the club might receive as a result of an investigation by the footballing authorities into whether it broke football’s financial rules under Abramovich’s ownership.

This is owing to a “holdback amount”, a clause inserted into the takeover deal by BlueCo 22, the subsidiary through which the Clearlake consortium – led by the US investor Todd Boehly – bought the club.

The FA has since charged the club with 74 rule breaches related to payments to agents during Abramovich’s tenure. Deals under the spotlight, highlighted in a 2023 investigation by the Guardian and international media partners, include the transfers of star players Eden ­Hazard, Willian and Samuel Eto’o.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the current owners of Chelsea FC.

The clause means that a portion of the total payment is withheld for five years to cover the cost of “any proceeding in relation to events which took place before the acquisition date, up to a value of £150m”. The figure is higher than the £100m buffer that had previously been reported.

Fordstam confirmed a statement in the previous year’s accounts, indicating that it did not expect the money to be returned.

The buffer against any financial penalty has fuelled calls for Chelsea to receive a sporting sanction, such as a points deduction, if the club’s huge success under Abramovich’s tenure is found to have been founded partly on financial rule-breaking.