BBC Panorama alleges Deloitte Cyprus accounts dropped $672m of Abramovich assets

The BBC's wording leaves open what role Deloitte played. It says accounts were signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus ^[1], and separately that Deloitte Cyprus had prepared draft accounts for Amiscan Investments for 2003 ^[7]. The published text does not say whether the firm acted as statutory auditor or as preparer. In our view that distinction sets how far the case reaches into audit practice.

The timing matters to the allegation. Deloitte owned MeritServus, the Limassol firm that administered Abramovich's offshore companies, until 2005 ^[6]. The first example of backdated paperwork the BBC cites dates from 2006 ^[10], one year after that split ^[12]. The BBC says the two firms kept working closely together with Abramovich's associates after the separation to manage his global fortune ^[6].

Abramovich's lawyers argue a version of the point that a leak and a broadcaster's reading are not a finding, and they add that relying on professional advice was legitimate ^[3]. We think that defence is worth taking at its word, because it moves the question onto the advisers. If reliance was legitimate, what the professionals did becomes the issue. Barrister Andrew Mitchell KC, an expert in financial services law, gave his view of Panorama's evidence ^[2]. That is one lawyer's reading, and the BBC's own phrasing on the tax scheme is that Deloitte "appears to have advised" on it ^[14].

Deloitte Cyprus's quoted reply so far is a single sentence ^[4]. The programme airs on BBC One at 20:00 BST on Monday 12 October ^[9].

The only timing guide is a different proceeding, since no decision by any regulator is dated in the record. Jersey's criminal investigation, in which £5.4bn of Abramovich's assets remain frozen, has run for four years ^[8]. Abramovich's lawyers say he denies the allegations in that investigation and that it was "undertaken for political purposes" ^[11]. We would not expect a ruling on Deloitte Cyprus this quarter.