Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich tried to protect his fortune by transferring several billion dollars to his children just before he was targeted by sanctions in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to information published Friday (January 6th) by
The Guardian
newspaper
.
According to documents obtained by the British daily, ten trusts for the benefit of Roman Abramovich "
were quickly reorganized in early February 2022
", a few weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, he says.
"
These changes made Abramovich's seven children, the youngest being 9 years old, the beneficiaries of the assets held in these trusts for a value of at least 4 billion dollars
", adds the newspaper, which specifies that this reorganization was not illegal.
These assets would include real estate properties, yachts, helicopters and private jets.
Read alsoRussia-Ukraine: “The hourglass of war”
Hacking a financial institution
They would now be difficult to seize or freeze for the authorities insofar as the children of the oligarch, former owner of the English football club Chelsea, are not affected by the sanctions, even if they could seek to demonstrate that the billionaire is the one who effectively controls them.
The documents obtained by the
Guardian
would come from the hacking of a financial institution administering the trusts of Abramovich in Cyprus, indicates the daily.
Read alsoWuer Kaixi: “Do not repeat with Xi the mistakes made with Putin”
The European Union and the United Kingdom placed the oligarch on the list of people sanctioned for their closeness to the Moscow regime in March 2022.
But he was not sanctioned by the United States, which Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, currently in prison, deeply regretted, noting that some of his companies "
continue to supply metal to the Russian Ministry of Defense
".
The United States only seized two planes belonging to Roman Abramovich in June, suspecting them of having been used in violation of the sanctions imposed on his country.
In September, the oligarch would have played a role in the release of five Britons captured in Ukraine, according to the testimony of one of them, who said that Abramovich was present in the plane with which they left the Russia.