Ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich secretly pumped £103 MILLION into Dutch club Vitesse while at Stamford Bridge

A recent report found that former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich lent €117 million (£103 million/$127 million) to Dutch club Vitesse.Information Guide Nigeria

According to information obtained exclusively by The Guardian, Abramovich was instrumental in financing the 2010 takeover of Vitesse, which was led by former Georgia international Merab Jordania. The findings, which originate from a cache of leaked data known as the Oligarch files, appear to indicate that the secret funding flowed through several offshore tax haven-registered entities.

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The Guardian reports that the Dutch football association was already aware of Vitesse’s alleged ties to Abramovich. According to reports, Jordan was an oligarch’s friend, and he was supplanted by his Russian business associate Alexander Chigirinsky. From 2010 onward, Vitesse became a “partner club” of Chelsea and took in a number of Chelsea loanees, including Nemanja Matic and Mason Mount in the 2017-18 season.

The Guardian reports that Abramovich’s offshore havens were so opaque that he evaded Dutch authorities on two separate occasions. Now, it has come to light that his alleged financing during his tenure as Chelsea owner covered not only Vitesse’s 2010 takeover, but also their subsequent expenditures. According to the report, the Dutch club’s total revenue for the 2014-2015 season was €14m (£12.3m/$15.2m), a sizeable sum for a club of their stature.

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“On Wednesday afternoon, the British newspaper The Guardian came out with a publication claiming that Vitesse was indirectly funded by companies owned by Mr. Abramovich, the then owner of Chelsea, in the period between 2010 and 2016,” the club responded in a statement. “Vitesse stresses that the information on which the article is based was never known to the club. The club has always cooperated fully with the investigations launched by the KNVB, which also did not reveal any illegalities.NYSC Portal

“Vitesse received share premium payments from the holding company above the club during the said period, which is also evident from all published annual reports. This holding company was, as The Guardian writes, financed by Marindale Trading Limited. Mr. Chigirinskiy is the (sole) beneficial owner of Marindale Trading Limited, which is evident from the official documents that have been part of the investigations. Vitesse had no knowledge of how this company was financed. Nor did Vitesse itself have any loan agreements.”

“The KNVB and other experts have investigated the situation at Vitesse broadly and thoroughly on several occasions; first the structure surrounding the takeover (2010), then the accuracy and completeness of the legal structures and financing structure presented by Vitesse (2015),” continued Vitesse. “At all times, Vitesse gave the investigators full access to all relevant documents in its possession. Both investigations did not reveal any facts in violation of KNVB and UEFA rules (see this article).

“It was concluded at the time that Vitesse had always correctly and fully informed parties about the club’s ownership and legal structure, that Vitesse’s legal structure was in line with KNVB regulations and that no third party had control of the club. This is also confirmed in The Guardian by a representative of Chelsea.”

The ramifications are unknown as yet, although UEFA laws stipulate that European clubs must be independently owned and run “to ensure the integrity of the competitions”, meaning any financing from Abramovich while owning Chelsea could be penalised.JAMB Result