The Cyprus connection: the family firm that helped pour Abramovich’s millions into Chelsea
Exclusive The Guardian: Limassol accountant helped Russian oligarchs hide their wealth offshore – now the firm is under UK sanctions.
T he invitation was for dinner and dancing, at a mansion on St George’s Hill, a gated estate in Surrey that has become an enclave for wealthy Russians. The Chelsea Football Club director Eugene Tenenbaum was celebrating his 45th birthday, in “disco attire”. On the flyer emailed to guests, an old photo showed a small boy standing barefoot, in front of what appears to be a pile of hay. The caption underneath read: “You’ve come a long way baby!”
Tenenbaum had plenty to celebrate – as a close associate of Roman Abramovich, he helped manage an empire that ranged from the oilfields of Siberia to the Premier League in England – and he wanted to thank those who had helped along that journey. Among the guests on that September night in 2009 was Demetris Ioannides. He had flown in from Cyprus, staying at Surrey’s four-star Oatlands Park hotel.
A chartered accountant who opened his own practice in 1988, Ioannides founded the Cyprus branch of the accounting group Deloitte. In 2005, he led a management buyout, setting up his own firm, MeritServus.
But Ioannides retained ties to the London-headquartered group. On his website, he claimed to be chairman emeritus of Deloitte in Cyprus, and to be a “preferred service provider”.
For his clients, he looked to Russia and beyond. “A Cyprus holding company provides the perfect gateway to the EU,” the MeritServus website explained, noting that “Cyprus has double tax treaties with over 40 countries including Russia, Ukraine, Iran and China”.
For the past two decades, Ioannides has been part of a circle of Cypriot lawyers, accountants and banks focused on bringing some
