Details of legal battle between Roman Abramovich and Jersey revealed after gagging order lifted
A judge has lifted a confidentiality order relating to a series of lawsuits brought by former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich against the Jersey government; This marks the first time details of the two-year fight will be made public.
The Russian billionaire had initially requested a gag order over the cases, but withdrew his objection after claiming island authorities had conspired against him in a 2022 criminal investigation.
Abramovich had already been successful in his legal attempt to force ministers and other senior figures in Jersey to produce private messages, emails and other data about him; These will now be made public.
But, It has now been revealed in court documents that Jersey government data linked to the original investigation in 2022 was mistakenly deleted.
In his ruling last week, Crown Court chairman barrister David Michael Cadin ordered the Jersey government to pay Abramovich’s costs and described his conduct as “excessive”.
Noting that authorities failed to provide data the Russian billionaire requested more than two years ago, he continued: “GOJ defendants’ conduct was unusual and unreasonable for any plaintiff, let alone an ‘office owner’.”
He said: “There has been no proper explanation given by the GOJ defendants for their failure.”
In April 2022, Jersey’s Crown Court ordered a formal freeze of $7 billion worth of assets in trusts Jersey said were linked to Abramovich, and Jersey’s Attorney General said Abramovich was a suspect in a criminal investigation.
Police later apologized for what they admitted was an illegal search of his property on the island after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine and the West imposed the harshest sanctions on Russian officials and Russian businessmen in history.
The 59-year-old leader served as governor of Chukotka, a remote Arctic region in Russia’s Far East, during Putin’s term.
He claims that he is He was actively courted by other wealthy individuals from Jersey and Russia to settle on the island in 2016, giving his money sources a clean bill of health.
However, following the invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea football club after being disqualified from owning the club in March 2022.
A criminal case regarding the sources of his wealth was opened in Jersey in November of the same year and is still open, although no charges have been brought.
Abramovich had previously failed to attempt to close the case in one of the legal challenges now made public because his claim “did not meet the high bar necessary” for the court to intervene.
But its success in publishing data and messages could be embarrassing because it involves personal accounts of ministers and senior officials in Jersey, as well as meetings with UK ministers and Foreign Office officials over concerns about Jersey’s links to Russian wealth.
A spokesman for Mr Abramovich said claims that his wealth was undisclosed had “no basis”.
They said: “We are grateful that the Jersey courts are taking these matters seriously, as evidenced by Mr Abramovich being allowed to make conspiracy allegations against the Jersey government earlier this year.
“It is worth noting that in the 3.5 years since the investigation began, no charges have been brought against Mr. Abramovich and, to our knowledge, no progress has actually been made in this case. This is not surprising, as this case is completely without foundation and Mr. Abramovich will continue to challenge these allegations and ensure that the obvious violations of rights are recognized as an illegal overreach that must be corrected.”
It is understood that he also plans to file a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights.
The Jersey government said the allegations against Mr Abramovich came during the high-profile British High Court hearings between him and Boris Berezovsky, which ended in 2012, as he alleged that he was involved in corrupt activities in Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Independent He contacted the Jersey government for further comment.
