Authorities in Jersey may be investigating whether cash raised from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC in 2022 amounts to the proceeds of crime, according to documents filed at Companies House on Wednesday, which could complicate a dispute with the UK government over how the money will be used.
The accounts of Fordstam Ltd, the company through which the billionaire Russian oligarch owned Chelsea, show that the proceeds of the sale (currently frozen and earning 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 Jersey authorities into Abramovich’s business dealings. Abramovich has previously denied wrongdoing.
As The Guardian and its media partners have previously revealed, Abramovich financed Chelsea through loans channeled through a complex network of offshore companies, aided by a fortune made in the oil fields 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 launched by the Attorney General of Jersey, into whether certain assets (potentially including net proceeds) amount to the proceeds of crime.”
Jersey prosecutors are investigating 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 that he was involved in criminal activity was false.
However, the revelations in Fordstam’s accounts could add another layer of complexity to the battle between Abramovich and the UK government over the release of proceeds from the sale of Chelsea.
The cash has been frozen since 2022, when sanctions were imposed on Abramovich in response to the UK and EU’s invasion of Ukraine, due to his closeness to Vladimir Putin.
The oligarch has insisted the money is his to allocate despite international sanctions imposed on his assets, prompting a threat of legal action from the British state, which wants to ensure none of the cash is used outside Ukraine.
Questions have also been raised over whether the “net proceeds” from the sale of Chelsea could be reduced to less than £1bn by any demand for repayment of the Camberley loan. Any such payment would currently require a license from the Financial Sanctions Implementation Office, a unit of the Treasury.
Fordstam’s accounts also confirm that Chelsea FC’s current owners have a £150m cushion against any financial penalties the club may receive as a result of an investigation by football authorities into whether it breached football’s financial rules under Abramovich’s ownership.
This is due to a “retention amount”, a clause included in the acquisition operation of BlueCo 22, the subsidiary through which the Clearlake consortium – led by American investor Todd Boehly – bought the club.
As a result of the clause, a portion of the total payment is retained for five years, to cover the cost of “any proceedings relating to events which took place before the acquisition date, up to a value of £150m”. The figure is higher than the £100m reserve previously reported.
Fordstam confirmed a statement in the previous year’s accounts, saying it does not expect the money to be returned.
The buffer against any financial penalty has fueled calls for Chelsea to receive a sporting penalty, such as a points deduction, if it is found that the club’s huge success under Abramovich was based in part on the breach of financial rules.
There is no indication of any wrongdoing on the part of the current owners of Chelsea FC.
