Cyprus’ audit oversight authority has no power to investigate events that predate its creation in 2017, but it is still collecting evidence on Deloitte Cyprus as it expects to answer to European bodies, its director general said on Thursday.
The Public Auditing Oversight Authority for the Auditing Profession (Adeelep) Panos Prodromitis informed that the body was gathering and assessing information on the firm’s role in the Roman Abramovich affair.
The matter came to light after a BBC Panorama and Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation published on October 12.
The report alleged that Deloitte Cyprus signed off backdated paperwork for Abramovich companies.
Deloitte Cyprus has said it “acts in compliance with applicable laws”.
Abramovich has insisted he took independent professional tax and legal advice and acted on it, and his lawyers have denied any role in alleged tax evasion.
Andreas Zachariadis, who chairs the authority and is the finance ministry’s permanent secretary, told the House institutions committee on Wednesday that the authority had contacted the firm and received “its own interpretation”.
The case dates from 2003 to 2006, and obtaining information on it “is not easy”, he said; Deloitte has committed to passing on any new information.
Zachariadis said the authority had “no jurisdiction over events before it was established” and held disciplinary rather than criminal powers.
Prodromitis said that for conduct after 2017, the authority’s board would assess the matter and appoint an independent investigating officer if a breach appeared likely.
The officer’s findings go to a disciplinary committee, which can impose penalties ranging from a fine or reprimand to removal of the audit firm.
Any suspected criminal offence can be reported to the attorney-general, who decides whether to prosecute.
Police told the committee they had opened an investigation into the management of Abramovich’s assets through Cypriot companies.
Spokesman Andreas Anastasiades said it would be carried out with other competent bodies and was expected to take about six months.
Police said the passage of time did not remove the legal basis for investigating.
Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said the session was a supervisory review.
“We are not here merely to endlessly discuss that these things happened years ago,” he said.
The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus said it could not give absolute assurance that similar cases would not recur.
Its representative said the licence of the person named in the BBC report was revoked in 2023.
The anti-money laundering unit (Mokas) said it had received no report on the case.
Tax Commissioner Soteris Markides said there were time limits on the tax years that could be examined.
Akel MP Christos Christofides, who appeared in the documentary, said tax cases completed in 2016 remained within that period.
The Central Bank said it was examining whether any Cypriot bank was involved, though none had yet been identified.
Former independent MP Alexandra Attalides, who had originally pressed the tax department to act, said it was “unbelievable that the supervisory bodies were so incompetent”.