Cypriot police have opened an investigation following reports by journalists that employees of Deloitte Cyprus and the associated firm Meritservus may have backdated corporate documents for entities linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported on the inquiry on October 22.
A representative of the financial investigations division of the Cypriot police told a parliamentary committee that law enforcement authorities were collecting and examining materials. A Justice Ministry representative also said the findings of the journalistic investigation would be reviewed. No investigative conclusions had been released at the time.
An earlier investigation by TBIJ, BBC Panorama, The Guardian and OCCRP drew on corporate records and correspondence. Its authors allege that documents were backdated between 1999 and 2013, creating a misleading record of asset ownership. The investigators concluded that the practice could have helped conceal at least $10 billion in assets and avoid some tax liabilities.
Abramovich's lawyers denied that he knew of unlawful document backdating, participated in hiding ownership or evaded taxes. They stressed that companies associated with him received consulting services from Deloitte. Representatives of Deloitte Cyprus said they did not have access to all correspondence from two decades earlier and acted in accordance with the law.
Cyprus's audit oversight authority also began a separate review of the information. These steps do not amount to criminal charges against Abramovich or a court finding that the transactions described were unlawful.
The central new development is the launch of reviews by Cypriot authorities in response to the reporting, rather than a fresh publication of the original allegations. The accusations remain findings by the journalists and matters under examination.