Foul play in southern Cyprus exposed: millions of documents leaked

The revelation in southern Cyprus became a hot topic in the international community…

The confidential Cyprus files, which have been revealed by many institutions including the ICIJ, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and media organizations such as The Guardian, consist of leaked documents including emails, bank records, company applications, documents fiduciaries and compliance reports.

The confidential financial files, totaling 1.31 terabytes, total more than 3.6 million documents and other records and come from six offshore service providers that create, manage and list shell companies and trusts in Cyprus, as well as from a company that sells access to a Cypriot company. data.

EU member Cyprus has long served as a major offshore financial center for wealthy Russians who have chosen the Mediterranean island as a gateway to move their wealth out of their home country and into Europe. Among the clients of the companies involved in the leak are Russian oligarchs who are currently under sanctions.

THE DETAILS REVEALED IN THE DOCUMENTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

– PwC Cyprus and other consultants helped Alexei Mordashov, one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs, try to transfer £1 billion to a listed company on the same day it was hit with EU sanctions. The Guardian was told the transfer was subject to an “ongoing” criminal investigation in Cyprus.

– Undisclosed payments of 600,000 euros from companies linked to the same oligarch to an influential German journalist considered a leading expert on Russia to support the publication of two books about Putin.

– Tens of millions of offshore payments made by Roman Abramovich to coaches, scouts and club officials during his time as owner of the Chelsea football club, which may have violated football’s strict rules on accounting and financial fair play.

– Controversial deals based on third-party ownership that allowed Abramovich and super-agent Pinhas Zahavi to control the careers of 21 young footballers.