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Last night, US authorities began moves to seize two jets worth more than $400m from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich… and a key part of the Jersey company web unravelled.
Express sheds light on the newly exposed links between Jersey and the former Chelsea FC owner...
A New York court heard on Monday that two planes owned by Roman Abramovich had been flown in March to Russia, breaching sanctions imposed on the heels of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and subsequently granted a warrant for their seizure.
The planes – a $350m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner believed to be one of the world’s most expensive private planes and a $60m Gulfstream G650ER - were beneficially owned by Mr Abramovich through a chain of shell companies, including two based at La Colomberie.
US Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave granted the plane seizure warrant after hearing detailed evidence from FBI agent Alan Fowler, who had spent months examining records across Jersey, Cyprus and the BVI and working with authorities in each jurisdiction.
In a sworn affidavit heard as part of the court case, the FBI agent explained the complex company ownership surrounding each jet – and the role Jersey played.
The Washington-headquartered Boeing Company manufactured the Dreamliner in around 2015.
In December 2017, it was sold to BVI-registered Wenham Overseas Limited for around $93.7m as a ‘green’ aircraft, meaning its interior was not finished.
Pictured: The Boeing, bearing tail number P4-BDL and manufacturer serial number 37306, is believed to be worth around $350m. (DoJ)
Shortly after its purchase in 2018, the Boeing was flown from the US to Europe where it was customised into what “is reported to be one of the world’s most expensive private airplanes, worth approximately $350m”, according to Mr Fowler.
He said Mr Abramovich’s representatives disclosed that he was the ultimate beneficial owner of Wenham during the purchase process.
Wenham is itself owned by Wotton Overseas Holdings Limited, a Jersey corporation.
In a footnote, the affidavit said that “publicly available news reports also indicate that Wotton owns, among other things, certain of Abramovich’s yachts and a helicopter.”
Indeed, in April the FT linked Mr Abramovich to £11m yacht ‘Sussurro’ via two Jersey companies.
Pictured: The JFSC company registry listing for Wotton.
The owner of South of France-moored Sussurro, which means ‘whisper’ in Italian and is believed to be the first yacht Mr Abramovich bought in 1998, is listed in maritime registers as Vesuvius International Limited in BVI. In 2017, the company was reported to have deregistered there and a company of the same name was set up in Jersey. The owner of Vesuvius International is listed as Wotton Overseas Holdings.
The FT also reported that Wotton was also the “owner through a subsidiary of a helicopter that has been photographed landing on Abramovich’s Solaris several times.”
Corporate documents cited by the FBI agent indicated that Wotton Overseas Holdings Limited was also the parent of Clear Skies Flights, which owned the Gulfstream G650ER.
JFSC records show that Wotton was set up on the same day as Clear Skies, with the same registered address of 50 La Colomberie in St. Helier.
Pictured: The JFSC company registry listing for Clear Skies.
The Gulfstream was manufactured much later than the Boeing Dreamliner – it was made by the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, which is headquartered in Savannah in Georgia, in 2020.
Around 16 March 2020, the plane was sold to Clear Skies Flights Limited for around $60m.
According to Mr Fowler, Mr Abramovich’s representatives disclosed on a document related to the transaction that he was the “100% ultimate economic beneficiary” of Jersey-based Clear Skies and that he had a Russian address.
Pictured: The Gulfstream, bearing tail number LX-RAY and manufacturer serial number 6417, is believed to be worth around $60m.
The FBI agent said he had found that Clear Skies’ representatives were affiliated with one of Mr Abramovich’s investment vehicles, MHC (Services) Limited, whose registered address is Stamford Bridge. At the time, Jersey resident Eugene Tenenbaum was one of the Directors of MHC, though he later resigned on 5 April 2020.
MHC bears a similar name to MHC Jersey Limited, which featured in a recent Guardian investigation regarding the transfer of ownership of a yacht formerly owned by Abramovich.
The newspaper reported that 50m ‘Aquamarine’ was passed to MHC Jersey Ltd on 24 February, the day Russian missiles, aircraft and artillery began to strike Ukraine, shortly after Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ against the country.
Pictured: Aquamarine undergoing sea trials off the Dutch coast.
Russian businessman and associate of Mr Abramovich, David Davidovich, confirmed to the newspaper that he was the owner of Aquamarine as well as the Jersey-based company MHC Jersey Ltd, which became the registered owner.
All the shares of Wotton, which was the parent of the companies owning the Boeing and Gulfstream planes, were owned by Cyprus-registered Finservus (Trustees) Limited.
Finservus was nominee for the Europa Settlement Trust, a trust established under the laws of Cyprus.
Pictured: The hierarchy of company structures. (DoJ)
Having reviewed court documents relating to another Abramovich family trust, the $900m HF Trust which was made public as part of the 2016 FinCEN files leak, Mr Fowler concluded that Mr Abramovich was the beneficiary of the Europa Trust.
He added that, based on his research, that the same month as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Abramovich “reorganised the ownership of his assets, including by making his children (all of whom are Russian nationals) the beneficiaries of the Europa Trust, as well as the HF Trust.”
Jersey’s Attorney General, Mark Temple QC, was yesterday thanked by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, for the island’s cooperation with the investigation and seizure effort.
Mr Williams said yesterday: “Our international partners — nations devoted to the rule of law — far outnumber those jurisdictions where these aircraft can safely hide, and our investigation of illegal exports in violation of US law will continue unabated.”
Pictured: Jersey's Attorney General and Law Officer's Department were thanked for their assistance with the investigation.
The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, a team dedicated to working with foreign partners to enforce sanctions and export controls in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
KleptoCapture Director Andrew C. Adams said his team “eagerly anticipates working with international partners to uphold the rule of law.”
Jersey’s Law Officers' Department told Express they were unable to comment while live investigations remained underway.
Official figures up to the end of April showed that Jersey firms have tracked down and frozen more than £1bn in Russian assets.
This is roughly 200 times the amount in Guernsey.
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