Abramovich, Roman A
Inside the Chelsea Sale: Deep Pockets, Private Promises and Side Deals
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday gave its blessing to the purchase of Chelsea F.C., one of European soccer’s blue-ribbon teams, by an American-led investment group after deciding it had sufficient assurances that none of the proceeds from the record sale price — $3.1 billion — would flow to the club’s Russian owner. The […]
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Why Selling Off Russian Oligarchs’ Assets Will Take Years
The U.S. government was so pleased with its swift seizure of a Russian oligarch’s 255-foot yacht on the Mediterranean island of Majorca last month that it posted a video on YouTube of the moment F.B.I. agents and Spanish authorities clambered up the gangplank. The $90 million yacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg, called the Tango, was […]
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Chelsea F.C. Will Be Sold to Boehly’s U.S.-Led Group
Abramovich invested nearly $2 billion of his personal funds during his 19-year tenure as owner, during which he covered losses of about $1 million a week as he recruited some of the best players in the world. The strategy was expensive but successful: Chelsea enjoyed the most successful period in its history, becoming a serial […]
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Do Russian Oligarchs Have a Secret Weapon in London’s Libel Lawyers?
The government attempted to rebalance the scales with the passage of the Defamation Act of 2013. It required plaintiffs to show a connection to the country in order to file in it, and stipulated that plaintiffs demonstrate they suffered “serious harm.” If this was supposed to embolden the media, it did not work, said Andrew […]
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How Roman Abramovich Used Shell Companies and Wall Street Ties to Invest in the U.S.
In July 2012, a shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands wired $20 million to an investment vehicle in the Cayman Islands that was controlled by a large American hedge fund firm. The wire transfer was the culmination of months of work by a small army of handlers and enablers in the United States, […]
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U.K. vs. Oligarchs: ‘The Gloves Are Now Off’
In a report in December on corrupt money in Britain, Chatham House, a research institute on foreign affairs, cited the Russian financier Dmitry Leus, who it said was “a supporter of St George’s Hospital, runs a children’s charity, supports a sports club in London, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.” “He […]
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How Roman Abramovich, a Russian Oligarch, Found Himself Under Sanctions
As Russian troops massed near the border with Ukraine last month, the American ambassador to Israel received an appeal on behalf of Roman Abramovich, the most visible of the billionaires linked to President Vladimir V. Putin. Leaders of cultural, educational and medical institutions, along with a chief rabbi, had sent a letter urging the United […]
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Roman Abramovich, Owner of Chelsea FC, Has Assets Frozen By Britain
The future of Chelsea F.C., one of Europe’s leading soccer teams, was thrust into uncertainty on Thursday when the British government froze the assets of the club’s Russian oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, as part of a wider set of sanctions announced against a group of wealthy Russian businessmen. The government, in announcing its actions against […]
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Chelsea Is for Sale as Pressure on Roman Abramovich Mounts
LONDON — Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch whose vast fortune transformed Chelsea into a global soccer powerhouse, confirmed Wednesday that he is actively seeking to sell the team. He has set a deadline of Friday for interested parties to submit “indicative offers” for the club he has owned for almost two decades, and is said […]
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