BEVERLY HILLS, September 26, (THEWILL) – Billionaire football club owner Roman Abramovich has denied allegations of money laundering and contact with criminal organisations.
The Russian oligarch, who was refused a visa renewal by the UK Home Office to live in England, wanted to set up home near the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Verbier in Canton Valais but the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) advised immigration officials to reject his application.
Journalists from Tamedia, Switzerland’s largest media group, obtained this secret Fedpol file and fought for the right to publish the damning verdict on Abramovich.
Investigative journalist Thomas Knellwolf said: “After half a year in court we can reveal that Swiss federal police see Chelsea Football Club boss Roman Abramovich as a possible danger for the country. That’s why he can’t move to Switzerland.”
But Abramovich vehemently denies the allegations as his lawyer Daniel Glasl said: “We are extremely disappointed by the release and publication of confidential information from Swiss government files regarding Mr Abramovich, which occurred in clear violation of Swiss criminal law and Swiss data protection laws.
“We have filed a request for correction of facts to the Swiss Federal Police and will be filing a criminal complaint against unknown persons responsible for dissemination of this confidential information.
“Any suggestion that Mr Abramovich has been involved in money laundering or has contacts with criminal organisations is entirely false.”
The extraordinary case began on July 25, 2016, when Abramovich applied for a permit to settle in Valais, including transfer of his tax residency.
The Canton’s immigration services were delighted. Its head of immigration services Jacques de Lavallaz said at the time: “In view of his financial background, Roman Abramovich would be a very interesting taxpayer for the commune and the canton and we gave a positive decision.”
The dossier was passed to Bern to the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) for approval.
As usual, the officials consulted the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) for advice. But by January 2017, police had advised immigration officials to reject the case.
This was not made public. A few months later, Abramovich inquired about his application and he was told it was due to be rejected. In June 2017, he withdrew his residency request before rejection was official.
By November, he had learned about Fedpol’s damning assessment of him. His lawyers immediately wrote to the head of Fedpol Nicoletta della Valle demanding a correction. This was rejected.
On January 31, 2018, Tamedia prepared to publish the explosive dossier. But a court order was obtained by Abramovich banning publication.
A judge at the Tribunal cantonal in Zurich issued an order on February 2 preventing the press from publishing any details. The Swiss press appealed the decision.
In April the courts ruled against Abramovich but he immediately appealed and the case was sent to the federal court in Lausanne. Finally, on September 21 the court rejected the case and Tamedia was free to report on the background to the case.
The journalists quoted extracts from the private Fedpol documents they had obtained. They said that the objection to residency centred around “suspicion of money laundering” and “contacts to criminal organisations”.
Mr Abramovich’s lawyer Dr Glasl said: “Mr Abramovich has never been charged with participating in money laundering and does not have a criminal record. He has never had, or been alleged to have, connections with criminal organisations.
“Fedpol has failed to provide any evidence of criminality whatsoever.
“Mr Abramovich has submitted to numerous, thorough background checks by governments and business partners over the years and such unsubstantiated allegations have never been at issue.”
A spokesman for Fedpol refused to be drawn on the specific accusations referred to by the Swiss press and Abramovich’s lawyer.
“The decision on the granting of a residence permit is the responsibility of the SEM. There are several cases in which the SEM has refused to issue a residence permit after evaluating the safety assessment of fedpol,” Thomas Dayer said.
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