www.bangkokpost.com Open in urlscan Pro
2a01:4f8:252:2952::2  Public Scan

Form analysis
3 forms found in the DOM

POST

<form method="post" onsubmit="return go_search_menu()">
  <div class="divNav--search">
    <input type="text" class="form-input-text" placeholder="SEARCH" name="q_menu" id="q_menu"><button class="btn-search" onclick="return go_search_menu()"><i class="icon-search"></i></button>
  </div>
</form>

POST

<form method="post" onsubmit="return go_search()">
  <div class="divSearch-form">
    <input type="text" class="form-input-text" placeholder="SEARCH" name="q" id="q"><button class="btn-search" onclick="return go_search()"><i class="icon-search"></i></button>
  </div>
</form>

POST https://www.bangkokpost.com/newsletter/bottom/process

<form action="https://www.bangkokpost.com/newsletter/bottom/process" class="needs-validation enews-form" id="xFormEnews2" novalidate="" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8">
  <div class="footer-form--input">
    <!--
											<input type="text" class="form-control form-control-subscribe" placeholder="E-mail" required>
											-->
    <input type="email" name="xEmailContactBottom" value="" placeholder="E-mail" id="xEmailContactBottom" class="form-control form-control-subscribe" required="required">
    <div class="invalid-feedback bottom-form">Please put in a valid-email.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="enewsletter--footer">
    <span class="txt-success bottom-form">Thank you for subscribing our enewsletter. You will get the updates within 24 hours.</span>
  </div>
  <button type="submit" class="btn-signup-subscribe">SUBSCRIBE</button>
</form>

Text Content

 * SUBSCRIBE
 * SIGN IN

 * THAILAND
 * WORLD
 * BUSINESS
 * OPINION
 * AUTO
 * LIFE
 * LEARNING
 * ASIA FOCUS
 * MORE+
   Other Services
    * PROPERTY LISTINGS
    * JOBS
    * MARKETPLACE
    * HOME DELIVERY
   
   Digital products
    * EPAPER
    * SMS
    * DIGITAL ARCHIVE
   
   Other
    * DATA HUB
    * SPECIAL FEATURES
   
    * VIDEO
    * SPORTS
    * TRAVEL
    * TECH
    * PROPERTY
    * PHOTOS



Section
 * Thailand
   * General
   * Politics
   * Special Report
   * PR News
 * World
 * Business
 * Opinion
   * Columnists
   * Postbag
 * Sports
   
 * Auto
   * News
   * Review
   

 * Sports
   
 * Auto
   * News
   * Review
   
 * Life
   * Arts & Entertainment
   * Social & Lifestyle
 * Learning

 * Video
   * Thailand
   * World
   * Travel & Lifestyle
   * Business
 * Travel
 * Tech
 * Property
 * Photos
 * Asia Focus

Other Services
 * PROPERTY LISTINGS
 * JOBS
 * MARKETPLACE
 * HOME DELIVERY

About Us
 * CONTACT US
 * ONLINE ADVERTISING
 * TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

Other
 * DATA HUB
 * SPECIAL FEATURES

SIGN IN
SUBSCRIBE
Digital Products
TODAY’S PAPER
 * EPAPER
 * SMS
 * DIGITAL ARCHIVE

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 




×
Get your daily newspaper delivered to your door despite COVID-19. Free delivery
for all subscribers!
Subscribe Now!
Download the Bangkok Post for Education app to develop your English using the
Bangkok Post's biggest news stories
Download Now!
Get your daily newspaper delivered to your door despite COVID-19. Free delivery
for all subscribers!
Subscribe Now!

The Island Where Abramovich Kept His $7 Billion Now Scrutinizing the Oligarch
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 5

Business


THE ISLAND WHERE ABRAMOVICH KEPT HIS $7 BILLION NOW SCRUTINIZING THE OLIGARCH

Jersey has tried to remake itself as an offshore haven where rule of law runs
deeper than in others

published : 26 May 2022 at 09:50

newspaper section: Business

writer: Max Colchester and Margot Patrick


 * 1
 * 
 * 
 * 5


The island of Jersey has never been formally incorporated into the UK. (Photo:
AFP)

For years authorities on this small island in the English Channel have tried to
clean up its image as a tax haven for the super rich, marketing it as a
well-governed offshore financial center enshrined in the rule of law.

The makeover helped draw billions of dollars in new assets to the territory from
other well-known, but scandal-plagued havens like the British Virgin Islands and
the Cayman Islands.

Part of that migration of money: Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has
increasingly concentrated his wealth here.

ADVERTISEMENT


The island has offered him residency and became the home to some of his closest
advisers.



 * Your horoscope for Jun 24-30
 * Succession
 * LGBTI-themed content worth a watch on Netflix

Now, Jersey officials are in an awkward standoff with one of their best-known
customers.

Last month, they froze over $7 billion of assets they say are linked to Mr.
Abramovich amid sweeping economic sanctions imposed on him and scores of other
wealthy Russians by Western governments in response to Moscow's invasion of
Ukraine.

Jersey officials have gone a step further: opening a wide-ranging preliminary
probe into how he acquired oil companies in 1990s post-Soviet Russia, according
to people familiar with the matter.

The probe is also looking into whether one of his business partners helped the
billionaire try to evade U.K. sanctions, according to these people.

The Jersey probe, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal,
is in its early stages and hasn't reached the stage of being a formal
investigation. Authorities haven't accused anyone of wrongdoing.

Located just off the north coast of France, Jersey is a self-governing island
with the British monarch as head of state.

Technically called the Bailiwick of Jersey, it is a picturesque island closer to
France than England, popular with day-tripping tourists and famous for its low
taxes and namesake cows and potatoes.

The size of Mr. Abramovich's assets in Jersey has surprised many, forcing the
government to defend its previous courtship of the billionaire.

"Right across Europe, with hindsight, different decisions would have been made,"
said Ian Gorst, Jersey's minister for external relations and financial services,
sitting in an office in the capital St. Helier.

"But at the time, Russian individuals and oligarchs were investing and being
given residency across Europe, just as they were here."

Jersey's outsize financial role traces its roots back to a historical anomaly in
the thirteenth century, when the island pledged allegiance to the British
monarchy but was never formally incorporated into what became the U.K.

That left it free to set its own rules while benefiting from privileged access
to Britain, including passport-free travel.

The largely agrarian economy gravitated to finance from the 1970s, when Britons
and others started parking assets here to avoid higher onshore taxes.

Today, funds routed through Jersey's 46 square miles total some $1.7 trillion in
assets, according to a report by industry body Jersey Finance. The island's
financial industry now accounts for 40% of its economy.

As British and European tax avoidance rules tightened, Jersey had to look
farther afield for clients. Mr. Abramovich became one of Jersey's biggest
catches.

The oligarch built the Russian oil company Sibneft in the 1990s, acquiring it
from the Russian state during a controversial privatization process.

In 2005, Mr. Abramovich sold his stake in Sibneft to Russian state-owned gas
company Gazprom PJSC for more than $13 billion.

Mr. Abramovich's lawyers have previously denied that the Sibneft deal was
corrupt.

In 2001, an investment company called Millhouse Capital was created to manage
Mr. Abramovich's investments as he embarked on a global spending spree.

In his earliest days as an international businessman, in the late 1990s, Mr.
Abramovich held assets for himself and his family first in a Liechtenstein
foundation and then via a Cyprus trust, according to U.K. filings and court
documents.

His advisers later moved to consolidate his wealth to better manage it,
according to people familiar with the set up.

Apart from its low taxes, Jersey was attractive because of its reputation for
being well regulated and its proximity to the U.K., say people familiar with his
financial dealings.

That made it easier to invest in western companies and assets via the island
without raising red flags with counterparties, these people say.

Zedra Trust Company Ltd., a company service provider with an office in St.
Helier on a quiet back street across the road from a pizzeria, helped set up and
administer a dozen or more companies and trusts linked to the oligarch,
according to filings with Jersey's financial regulator.

Zedra said in a statement that it adheres to sanctions rules.

In 2016, Zedra bought a trust business from Barclays PLC and inherited Mr.
Abramovich as a customer, according to a person close to the company and
corporate filings in the Isle of Man.

Millhouse Capital, set up a Jersey office in 2016 and several companies linked
to Mr. Abramovich relocated to Jersey from the British Virgin Islands in the
following months, filings with Jersey's financial regulator show.

Mr. Abramovich's wealth underwent strict checks in Jersey, and he wasn't under
any sanctions then, people familiar with the matter said.

Adding reputational comfort: Mr. Abramovich owned the soccer club Chelsea FC and
had a U.K. visa, said Mr. Gorst.

In 2018, the Jersey government offered Mr. Abramovich residency on the island,
causing a stir with some locals.

"There wasn't so much a moral issue about Mr. Abramovich," says Kirsten Morel,
the assistant minister for economic development on the island. "It was a
security issue."

That year a former Russian spy was poisoned in southern England, in what the
U.K. government said was a Kremlin-orchestrated attack.

"It's a small place, it is a small island," said Mr. Morel. "Do you want someone
who stands out like that?" Ultimately Mr. Abramovich never took up Jersey
residency.

That didn't stop his business partners from building a bulkhead on the island.

Eugene Tenenbaum, a Canadian accountant who worked closely with Mr. Abramovich,
settled in Jersey, U.K. filings show.

A small office of employees on the island ran Mr. Abramovich's investments,
people familiar with the matter say.

In 2020, Mr. Abramovich shifted a $1.9 billion loan to his soccer team Chelsea
FC into one of the Jersey companies, after transferring the British Virgin
Islands company that made the loan to Jersey, according to filings in the U.K.
and Jersey.

Companies holding Abramovich properties, helicopters and a luxury yacht are
registered in Jersey, according to Jersey filings and people familiar with the
matter.

The government of Jersey follows U.K. sanctions rules. Shortly after Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. sanctioned Mr. Abramovich saying he had links to
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Tenenbaum was sanctioned too.

Jersey followed suit and froze assets linked to the Russian businessmen.

One transaction after Russia's invasion has attracted authorities' attention and
is part of the probe now being conducted over possible sanctions evasion,
according to people familiar with the matter.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, U.K. filings show Mr. Tenenbaum acquired
Ervington Investments Ltd., an investment vehicle previously linked to Mr.
Abramovich, via a Jersey-registered company, Heathville Investments Ltd.

The U.K. government later said Mr. Tenenbaum no longer has ownership of
Ervington.

Mr. Tenenbaum has said the purchase was never completed and denies holding
assets owned by Mr. Abramovich.

Mr. Gorst said robust enforcement of the law would protect Jersey's reputation.

"You're simply ensuring that you have proper process in place to deal with what
you find out to be criminal activity," he said.

Read More
 * 1
 * 
 * 
 * 5

RELATED NEWS
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Refiners deny profit tally
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Japan’s latest unicorn is a Thailand mobile payments firm
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Airlines pledge to stabilise rocky recovery
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Zero-Covid policy hitting condo transfers
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Refinery contribution for oil fuel fund approved by cabinet
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Bank of Thailand asked to ease impact of any rate hike: Arkhom
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   S Korea bans Terraform staff from leaving country amid probe
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Asian markets climb as calm returns after sharp sell-off
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Hopewell, govt trade threats
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article
 * %
   0
     SAVING 
   Analysts sound alarm on baht depreciation
   
   
   Add to Cart
   
   Go to Article




slow-watches.com

Fabriqué en Suisse: La montre slow vous rappelle de cesser de courir après le
tempsslow-watches.com|
SponsoredSponsored
Acheter


Undo
Plays Star

Les stars de Starship Troopers 25 ans plus tardPlays Star|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Cartouche hp | Liens de recherche

Cartouches HP : stock à prix spéciauxCartouche hp | Liens de recherche|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

y2mate

The 20 most beautiful female celebrities over 30 in the worldy2mate|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Mortgage Credit News

À 54 ans, Sophie Marceau est méconnaissable aujourd'huiMortgage Credit News|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

Slate

La revanche des dragonsSlate|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Dailybreak

Si le chat vous mord, voici ce que cela signifie vraimentDailybreak|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Rich Houses

Les 23 créatures les plus dangereuses sur terreRich Houses|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 * Keywords
 * WSJ.com
 * The wall street journal

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you like the content of this article?
9 13
COMMENT (5)
Tele-loisirs

Fiona Gélin : handicapée, ruinée, l'actrice raconte sa terrible descente aux
enfersTele-loisirs|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Mortgage Credit News

À 38 ans, Jennifer Bartoli est méconnaissable aujourd'huiMortgage Credit News|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

EverydayChimp

Living in France? These Are the Richest and Poorest Countries in Europe
2019EverydayChimp|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Soo-healthy.com

Une mère donne naissance à des triplés - mais quand le médecin voit leurs
visages, il n'en croit pas ses yeux !Soo-healthy.com|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Loansocieties

Un cheval refuse d'accoucher- lorsque le vétérinaire voit l'échographie, il
appelle les secoursLoansocieties|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo


Hong Kong’s floating restaurant sinksBangkok Post


Undo

Iran's oldest pistachio trader readies daughter to one day take overBangkok Post


Undo

Voici

Kate Middleton : ce geste du prince William qui en dit long sur sa relation avec
sa femmeVoici|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Ma compétence en plus

Découvrez ces formations financées par l'EtatMa compétence en plus|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Voitures | Liens de recherche

Roubaix: Liquidation des voitures 2020 invendues. Les prix vont vous
surprendreVoitures | Liens de recherche|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

Dailybreak

Photos rares de la princesse Diana que la famille royale n'a jamais voulu que
les gens voientDailybreak|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Buzzclip

À 3 ans elle exécute une danse irlandaise, son jeu de pieds est irréelBuzzclip|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

MOST POPULAR

Analysts sound alarm on baht depreciationBangkok Post


Undo
MOST POPULAR

Bangkok ranked second best city for digital nomadsBangkok Post


Undo

Housing Lover

Un lion capture un bébé chevreuil terrifié, voilà ce qui arrive
ensuiteHousing Lover|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Toiture | Liens de recherche

Propriétaires: combien coûte la rénovation d'une toiture?Toiture | Liens de
recherche|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo
Trendscatchers

Une femme appelle à l'aide lorsqu'elle réalise que les marques sur son chien ne
sont pas de simples piqûres d'insectesTrendscatchers|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo



LIFE


CULTURE SHOCK AND CROCODILE ENCOUNTERS


EXPLORE CHAROEN KRUNG THROUGH ART


JOIN A TEMPLE TOUR IN HONOUR OF A KING


PACIFIC ASIA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION & PATA THAILAND CHAPTER MEET

RECOMMENDED
 * Centara teams up with Thai Vietjet
 * World Cup offers sales opportunities
 * GSB vows steady interest rates
 * Project aims to ease farmers' fertiliser woes
 * Token X, SC Asset team up for utility token effort
 * Philippines moves closer to building world's largest solar project

MOST RECENT
Business


STOCKS, OIL DIVE AS RECESSION FEARS RETURN AFTER BRIEF MARKET RESPITE

Equities and oil prices tumbled Wednesday after a brief respite from last week's
painful rout across world markets, with recession fears continuing to build as
central banks hike interest rates to combat decades-high inflation.

15:25
World


AFGHANISTAN QUAKE

At least 280 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a powerful
earthquake hit southeastern Afghanistan overnight.

15:00
Business


BITCOIN TUMBLE SENDS JTS STOCK FROM FIRST TO LAST IN WORLD

Just two months ago Jasmine Technology Solution Plc’s (JTS) shares were riding
high atop the global communications equipment sector after a huge boom catalysed
by the Thai firm’s plan to embrace Bitcoin mining.

14:48
by Taboolaby Taboola
You May Like

slow-watches.com

Fabriqué en Suisse: La montre slow vous rappelle de cesser de courir après le
tempsslow-watches.com|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

Hong Kong’s floating restaurant sinks


Undo

Plays Star

Les stars de Starship Troopers 25 ans plus tardPlays Star|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

Cartouche hp | Liens de recherche

Cartouches HP : stock à prix spéciauxCartouche hp | Liens de recherche|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo

Iran's oldest pistachio trader readies daughter to one day take over


Undo

' ' '
' ' '


MORE IN SECTION


BITCOIN TUMBLE SENDS JTS STOCK FROM FIRST TO LAST IN WORLD


UK INFLATION HITS FRESH 40-YEAR HIGH


THAI ECONOMY TO GROW 3% THIS YEAR, 3.7% NEXT YEAR - STATE AGENCY


GRADUAL HIKE IN POLICY RATE TO LIMIT SIDE EFFECTS: BOT MINUTES


BITCOIN SINKS AGAIN ON RECESSION FEARS

‹›

‹›


 * THAILAND
   * General
   * Politics
   * Special Report
   * PR News
 * WORLD
 * BUSINESS
 * OPINION
   * Columnists
   * Postbag

 * SPORTS
 * AUTO
   * News
   * Review
   LIFE
   * Arts & Entertainment
   * Social & Lifestyle
   * Guru
   * B Magazine
   LEARNING

   LIFE
   * Arts & Entertainment
   * Social & Lifestyle
   * Guru
   * B Magazine
   LEARNING
 * VIDEO
   * Thailand
   * World
   * Travel & Lifestyle
 * TRAVEL
 * TECH
 * PROPERTY
 * PHOTOS
 * ASIA FOCUS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 * DIGITAL PRODUCTS & SERVICES
   * EPaper
   * SMS
   * Digital Archive
   * Property Listings
   * Jobs
   * Marketplace
   * Home Delivery

 * OTHER
   * Data Hub
   * Special Features

 * OUR NETWORK
   * Post Today
   * Post Books

STAY INFORMED.GET DAILY UPDATES FROM THE BANGKOK POST.
Please put in a valid-email.
Thank you for subscribing our enewsletter. You will get the updates within 24
hours.
SUBSCRIBE
By subscribing, you accept the terms and conditions in our privacy policy.
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

©2022 Bangkok Post Public Company Limited
 * Terms of use
 * Republishing permission
 * Privacy policy
 * Online advertising
 * Contact us
 * Tell us what you think
 * Partnership
 * 



By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies as described in
our privacy policy.

Accept and close

COMMENT


Comments will be moderated at 06:00-18:00 (UTC+7). Multiple duplicate comments,
immoral, unlawful, obscene, threatening, libelous, anything related to the Thai
Royal family, self-advertising, or racist comments will be ignored. For full
policies, please view www.bangkokpost.com/policy (section 1.1.1).


view more comments

1/ close the image dialog

 * go to the previous image
 * go to the next image



 * SUBSCRIBE
 * SIGN IN

 * THAILAND
 * WORLD
 * BUSINESS
 * OPINION
 * AUTO
 * LIFE
 * LEARNING
 * ASIA FOCUS
 * MORE+
   Other Services
    * PROPERTY LISTINGS
    * JOBS
    * MARKETPLACE
    * HOME DELIVERY
   
   Digital products
    * EPAPER
    * SMS
    * DIGITAL ARCHIVE
   
   Other
    * DATA HUB
    * SPECIAL FEATURES
   
    * VIDEO
    * SPORTS
    * TRAVEL
    * TECH
    * PROPERTY
    * PHOTOS



More stories to check out before you go


Keep on reading


Hong Kong’s floating restaurant sinksJumbo Floating Restaurant, a landmark of
Hong Kong, sank in the South China Sea after being towed away from the
city.Bangkok Post
Group 3


Undo

Iran's oldest pistachio trader readies daughter to one day take overTucked away
in Tehran's famed Grand Bazaar, Iran's oldest pistachio wholesaler quietly
prepares a small revolution -- he will hand his business to his youngest
daughter, in a trade dominated by men.Bangkok Post
Group 3


Undo

Social issues in the spotlightAs the end of 2020 nears, one can confidently say
that Covid-19 has probably had the biggest impact on exacerbating social issues
in the country.Bangkok Post
Group 3


Undo

Bangkok ranked second best city for digital nomadsBangkok is the world's second
best city in which to work as a digital nomad because of its mix of
accommodation, WiFi spots, transport and cuisine, according to a new
study.Bangkok Post
Group 3


Undo

' ' '
' ' '


End of mandatory face mask useMandatory mask-wearing will be limited to people
with underlying illnesses, the elderly and pregnant women. The easing of
pandemic restrictions will come into effect in mid-June, according to the
permanent secretary for public health.Bangkok Post


Undo


THAI auctions the bare bonesThe financially troubled Thai Airways International
(THAI) will on Wednesday auction off the airframe of an old Boeing 737-400,
according to its TG Warehouse Sale Facebook page.Bangkok Post


Undo

Missing teacher found slain, weighted body dumped in pondPHETCHABURI: A
40-year-old teacher was found dead, her weighted body dumped in a pond, in Muang
district on Thursday night, about two weeks after she was reported missing in
Kaeng Krachan district.Bangkok Post


Undo

Navy gives China firm 2 monthsThe Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has given China
Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC) two more months to honour its
agreement to supply the navy with an S26T Yuan-class submarine with German-made
MTU396 diesel engines, RTN spokesman Pokkrong Monthatphalin said.Bangkok Post


Undo

slow-watches.com

Fabriqué en Suisse: La montre slow vous rappelle de cesser de courir après le
tempsslow-watches.com|
SponsoredSponsored
Acheter


Undo
Plays Star

Les stars de Starship Troopers 25 ans plus tardPlays Star|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo


Police briefed on cannabis law changesBangkok Post


Undo

Foreigners held in death of Russian womanBangkok Post


Undo

Cartouche hp | Liens de recherche

Cartouches HP : stock à prix spéciauxCartouche hp | Liens de recherche|
SponsoredSponsored
En savoir plus


Undo
y2mate

The 20 most beautiful female celebrities over 30 in the worldy2mate|
SponsoredSponsored


Undo


George Soros: Russian invasion may be start of 3rd World WarUnited States
billionaire George Soros warned Tuesday that "civilisation may not survive"
Russia's invasion of Ukraine but said Europe could have a stronger position
against Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding gas than it realises.Bangkok
Post


Undo

Mask rule to end in JuneMandatory mask-wearing will be limited to people with
underlying illnesses, the elderly and pregnant women in mid-June, according to
authorities.Bangkok Post


Undo





Hong Kong’s floating restaurant sinks
slow-watches.com

Fabriqué en Suisse: La montre slow vous rappelle de cesser de courir après le
tempsslow-watches.com|
SponsoredSponsored
Plays Star

Les stars de Starship Troopers 25 ans plus tardPlays Star|
SponsoredSponsored