The Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI launched an investigation into the consulting firm Concord Management, which controlled Roman Abramovich's investments in hedge funds for billions of dollars, reports The New York Times , citing sources close to the company.
Concord Management was established in 1999 to select hedge funds and companies to invest offshore companies linked to Abramovich, the publication wrote in early March. An investigation by US intelligence agencies into the firm began shortly after the publication of the newspaper.
This investigation also includes offshore companies that could have been used by the Russian billionaire to invest $8 billion in US hedge funds and private firms over the past two decades. Experts study the flow of money through companies registered, including in the British Virgin Islands and the island of Jersey.
According to the publication, the SEC and the FBI have already begun to interview representatives of Concord, and the special services are investigating independently of each other. Both investigations are aimed, among other things, at determining whether the company tried to hide participation in Abramovich's investments.
Because Abramovich's investments went through chains of offshore entities, it's unclear how many funds and companies knew Concord was representing him. But industry officials say Concord's connection to the Russian billionaire has "become better known" on Wall Street in recent years.
After the events in Ukraine began, the UK and the European Union imposed sanctions against Abramovich, but the United States did not impose restrictions on Abramovich, since Vladimir Zelensky asked Joe Biden about this because of the participation of the billionaire in the negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. At the same time, in May, the United States issued a warrant for the arrest of Abramovich's planes.
In April, Jersey authorities announced a $7 billion asset freeze on Abramovich's assets, roughly half of the Russian's net worth. Also, part of the billionaire's assets was frozen in the UK, the rest of the property in the country, including the Chelsea football club, he was forced to sell. According to experts, the total value of British assets of Abramovich was 4.8 billion US dollars.