After a three-year legal saga, Swiss authorities have cleared businessman and recent Israeli immigrant Roman Abramovich of any suspicion.
The clearing of Abramovich’s name came after a secret Federal Office of Police (FedPol) document was obtained by the Zurich-based Tamedia AG media group in 2018, according to which migration authorities planned to reject Abramovich’s application for a residence permit due to suspicions of money laundering.
Abramovich’s attorneys have worked over the past three years with Swiss authorities to clear their client.
“Legal representatives of Mr. Abramovich submitted a request to the FedPol in 2018 asking to disclose information on any data in the information systems operated by Fedpol,” a spokesperson for Abramovich said on Sunday. “The request was made following false statements having been published in Swiss media in relation to Mr. Abramovich. We welcome the possibility to finally put this process, which has taken over 3 years, to rest and reaffirm that previously published statements were unfounded.”
According to the 2018 report, Abramovich had filed “an application for a residence permit” in the canton of Valais in July 2016, a tax-friendly home to successful businessmen, and planned to transfer his tax residency to the Swiss municipality.
Valais authorities readily agreed to the request and transferred the application to the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration for approval. Once there, FedPol investigators expressed suspicions and opposed the request. As a result, Abramovich withdrew his application in June 2017, before it was officially rejected.
The new decision paves the way for Abramovich to once again request a residence permit in Switzerland. In addition to Russian citizenship, in May 2018, Abramovich was granted Israeli citizenship.
Among the Russians who became billionaires after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Forbes has ranked Abramovich as the 11th wealthiest Russian, but has also noted that he has donated more money than any of his compatriots to a variety of causes in Russia, Britain, the US, Portugal and Israel, as well as in other countries.
Globally, he is known as the owner of the Premier League Chelsea Football Club, which he has used to motivate, educate and inspire fans to fight hate racism.
Abramovich leads and funds a unique and comprehensive global campaign, under the banner ‘Say No to Antisemitism,’ dedicated to raising awareness of the evils of antisemitism from an educational perspective. The club works with leading figures and authorities around the world to help spread the message.