Panorama alleges Deloitte helped falsify Roman Abramovich documents
A BBC Panorama investigation alleges Deloitte helped falsify and backdate documents to hide Roman Abramovich's wealth and evade tax, allegations he denies.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
BBC Panorama has alleged that Deloitte, the world's biggest accountancy firm, helped falsify and backdate documents linked to Roman Abramovich's financial empire, allowing the former Chelsea owner to hide wealth and evade tax.
The investigation, made with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, is based on a data leak from Cyprus, where a web of companies held his wealth. Panorama says hundreds of documents were falsified and backdated by his Cypriot advisers, and many were drawn up with the help of Deloitte.
According to the programme, accounts signed off by Deloitte meant assets such as superyachts vanished from company accounts. In 2003, one of Abramovich's Cypriot companies, Kravin Investments, had almost $2 billion of his money in the bank. Deloitte confirmed certain changes would have to be made to the accounts, which Panorama describes as apparent advice on falsifying financial records by backdating them.
The evidence suggests the arrangements allowed Abramovich to evade millions in tax. One expert said that if such conduct happened in England and involved millions, HMRC would be thinking about a prosecution.
The report also shows two of Abramovich's superyachts, the Eclipse and the Solaris, in a Turkish harbour. He has been sanctioned by the UK and the EU, but not by Turkey, which the programme describes as a safe haven.
Roman Abramovich's lawyers say he denies evading tax or concealing his fortune. They say he was not involved in the day-to-day operation of the companies, and that Panorama has provided no evidence that he knew of, authorised or directed the falsification or backdating of any documents. Deloitte Cyprus says it cannot comment because the documents are more than 20 years old and no longer accessible. Deloitte says it complies with all applicable laws.
The programme, Roman Abramovich: How did he hide his fortune, is available on BBC iPlayer and was due to air on BBC One at 8pm.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| A BBC Panorama investigation reported that Roman Abramovich's Cypriot advisers, with help from Deloitte, falsified and backdated hundreds of documents to hide his wealth. | ||
| Deloitte said it complies with applicable laws. | Reported by BBC One | |
| In 2003, Roman Abramovich's Cypriot company Kravin Investments held almost 2 billion dollars of his money. | ||
| Roman Abramovich denied any wrongdoing, including evading tax or concealing his fortune, and his lawyers said he was not involved in the day-to-day operation of the companies and that Panorama provided no evidence he knew of, authorised or directed falsification or backdating. | Reported by BBC News | |
| The investigation reported evidence suggesting that the arrangements allowed Roman Abramovich to evade millions in tax. | Reported by BBC News | |
| Only on one channel | ||
| Roman Abramovich denies wrongdoing and Deloitte says it complies with applicable laws. | Not reported by BBC One | |
| Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK and EU but not Turkey, which was described as a safe haven for his yachts. | Not reported by BBC News | Reported by BBC One |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
This bulletin led with regional West Country items before turning to the Panorama investigation as a national news item. It focused on the claim that Deloitte helped falsify documents, and highlighted that signed-off accounts made assets such as superyachts vanish. It included the denials from Roman Abramovich and Deloitte's compliance line.
- “A BBC Panorama investigation has revealed that the world's biggest accountancy firm Deloitte helped falsify documents that allowed the former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich to hide his wealth and evade tax.”
- “Accounts signed off by the firm meant assets like super yachts vanished from company accounts.”
- “Roman Abramovich denies any wrongdoing while Deloitte says it complies with all applicable laws.”
This rolling news segment treated the story as a straight BBC investigation update, with Richard Bilton's report carried largely intact. It stressed that hundreds of documents were backdated by the Russian billionaire's advisers and that many were drawn up with Deloitte's help. It gave less space to the Turkish superyacht detail and closed with clear BBC iPlayer and BBC One broadcast times.
- “Now, a BBC investigation has revealed the world's biggest accountancy firm helped in falsifying documents in order to hide the former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich's wealth.”
- “BBC Panorama has uncovered hundreds of documents that were backdated by the Russian billionaire's advisers. Many were drawn up with the help of Deloitte.”
- “Roman Abramovich denies any wrongdoing. Deloitte says it complies with applicable laws.”
This evening bulletin gave more location and sanctions context, showing Abramovich's yachts in a Turkish harbour and noting Turkey has not sanctioned him. It spelled out how the backdated documents made it look as if Cypriot companies did not own his wealth, so tax could be avoided. It also carried the denials and Deloitte Cyprus's no-comment line.
- “The world's biggest accountancy firm helped in falsifying documents to hide Roman Abramovich's wealth and evade tax.”
- “The back-dated documents made it look like some of his Cypriot companies didn't own his wealth, so they could conceal his fortune and evade paying tax on it.”
- “The evidence suggests that Deloitte, the world's biggest accountancy firm, was also involved. Mr Abramovich may have evaded millions in tax.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.