The details surfaced from a Swiss federal court, where judges approved the release of records linked to multiple Swiss bank accounts after a request from Jersey’s chief legal officer.
Jersey’s authorities have been pursuing companies suspected of ties to the Russian billionaire in Swiss courts as part of their probe into his financial empire. The island, which Abramovich used to channel funds into the west, froze more than $7bn in assets believed to be connected to him shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Swiss court rulings indicate Jersey investigators are examining the original sources of Abramovich’s fortune, accumulated during Russia’s tumultuous economic transformation in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Abramovich has denied the accusations through legal representatives, stating any claims of criminal involvement are untrue.
Attorneys for the companies involved had tried to prevent the disclosure of Swiss banking records, but their appeal was dismissed in May. Swiss judges ruled that Jersey presented sufficient evidence to warrant the handover.
Court documents outline that Jersey’s request to Switzerland involved two separate issues.
The first pertains to suspected money laundering linked to Abramovich’s sale of his oil and gas firm Sibneft, bought by the Russian government for $13bn in 2005. The filings allege that the former Chelsea owner engaged in corrupt payments during the 1990s while expanding Sibneft into a major energy corporation.
The second involves possible sanctions violations regarding the movement of assets shortly after Abramovich was placed on Jersey’s sanctions list following the Ukraine invasion.
Jersey, one of the offshore hubs Abramovich used to manage his wealth, has seen limited public disclosure about the case. A 2023 court order confirmed that Jersey’s economic crime unit was investigating suspected sanctions breaches but did not reference any Sibneft-related probe.
While the Swiss rulings redact names, they reveal other case specifics, which judges allowed to be published since Abramovich’s legal proceedings were already public knowledge.
Born an orphan in Russia’s Komi republic, Abramovich rose from humble beginnings to become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
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