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The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported on October 12, 2026, that senior staff at Deloitte Cyprus and later its spin-off Meritservus routinely backdated at least 1,000 corporate records for more than 100 companies linked to Roman Abramovich between 1999 and 2013. Forensic analysis of leaked files showed the fabricated paperwork included contracts, payment orders and correspondence given false earlier timestamps, sometimes by as much as five years. The practice created a false historical record that Deloitte then relied upon when acting as independent auditor to sign off the accounts as true and fair. One leading tax expert consulted by the Bureau described the arrangement as straightforward and blatant tax evasion that enabled the sanctioned oligarch to shield his wealth from authorities.
The scheme formed a regular feature of services offered by Deloitte’s Cyprus branch to Abramovich, according to the investigation. It allowed the concealment of billions in assets across an offshore network while helping him dodge large tax liabilities. The Bureau’s reporting indicated the backdating stopped in 2013 though it remains unclear whether similar practices continued afterward.
Some of the falsified documents were later presented in London’s High Court during a dispute over a Siberian oil venture, the Bureau found. Abramovich’s associates used the sham paperwork to defend their takeover of the billion-pound joint venture with rival oligarch Chalva Tchigirinsky’s firm. His right-hand man testified he had no knowledge of certain deals that the fabricated records showed him authorising, the leaked files indicated.
The revelations build on earlier findings from the Cyprus Confidential leaks first reported in 2023 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Those documents exposed how Abramovich-controlled companies set up a fake superyacht chartering scheme through Blue Ocean Yacht Management to avoid VAT on fuel, maintenance and other costs in EU waters. Cypriot tax authorities issued a 14-million-euro bill in 2012 for unpaid taxes between 2005 and 2010 that has since risen to 25 million euros with interest and penalties, according to OCCRP reporting from August 2025, which also noted the indictment of former directors of the firm.
Separate analysis of the same leaks by the BBC, The Guardian and the Bureau suggested Abramovich’s offshore investment companies may owe the UK up to 1 billion pounds in corporation tax, interest and penalties. The structure routed up to 6 billion dollars into hedge funds through British Virgin Islands entities that generated at least 3.8 billion dollars in profits over two decades. Evidence indicated strategic decisions were made by a UK-based executive rather than in the offshore jurisdiction, prompting UK lawmakers to urge HM Revenue and Customs to open a formal investigation.
Abramovich, who built his fortune through the 1990s privatisation of Sibneft, has been under Western sanctions since 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The oligarch shifted ownership of several Cyprus-registered trusts holding billions to his children in early 2022 ahead of the measures, according to Guardian reporting. Deloitte has previously stated it operates in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations though it declined to address specific questions about its work for Abramovich’s entities.
