Abramovich could face US sanctions after hedge fund links revealed

US authorities appear closer to adding Roman Abramovich to their list of sanctioned hyper-rich Russians, after reports surfaced of a complex transaction of funds through a US hedge fund that was linked to the UK- and European-sanctioned owner of Chelsea football club.

The transaction was organized by Concord Management, a US investment consultancy in White Plains, New York, that has been named as a vehicle through which the 55-year-old Abramovich may have invested $1.3bn with US financiers, including Empyrean Capital Partners in Los Angeles, Millstreet Capital Management in Boston, Millennium Management, Sarissa Capital Management and Sculptor Capital Management.

The US government has also announced potential $5m payouts to Americans offering information leading to seizure of assets belonging to super-rich Russians, via the justice department kleptocracy taskforce.

Abramovich, who is believed to be in Moscow, has not been placed on US sanctions lists, despite what is reported to be a frantic effort by him to sell funds via Concord on the secondary market since at least late February.

One of his yachts, the 533-foot Eclipse, equipped with two swimming pools, helipads and a mini-submarine, is currently docked in New York.

But the Biden administration has identified his Gulfstream G650ER jet, considered one of the most prestigious in private aviation, for apparent violations of US export controls after it broke sanctions by flying to Moscow in recent weeks.

Despite Abramovich not being named by the US, a number of US-based hedge funds have reportedly agreed to freeze his assets under guidance from the UK.

The report comes as the Internal Revenue Service has asked US legislators to approve more resources for the US sanctions program, and lawmakers push a bill, known as the Enablers Act, that would require investment advisers to identify and vet their customers.

According to documents cited by BuzzFeed, the Concord advisory firm at the center of the 2012 Abramovich transaction, may have arranged more than 100 investments in different hedge funds and private equity firms, mostly for Abramovich.