The Royal Court of Jersey, the crown dependency's principal court, imposed a freezing order Tuesday on the assets that authorities believe are connected to Abramovich and are located in Jersey or owned by entities based on the island.
The Royal Court "imposed a formal freezing order on 12 April, known as a saisie judiciaire, over assets understood to be valued in excess of $7 billion, which are suspected to be connected to Mr. Abramovich and which are either located in Jersey or owned by Jersey incorporated entities," the Jersey Law Officers' Department said.
Jersey police also executed search warrants on Tuesday at premises suspected of being involved in the Chelsea Football Club owner's business, the department said.
The measure criminalizes businesses or individuals who interact with the frozen funds or assets.
The Jersey government said it would not make any further comment. Abramovich could not immediately be reached for comment.
The oligarch's assets were frozen by the U.K. government in March in an attempt to restrict the finances of individuals believed to be supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich said in a statement before the U.K. imposed sanctions on him that he was hoping to sell the top-tier soccer team, which won last season's European Champions League.
Meanwhile, France's Economy and Finance Ministry announced Wednesday that it had seized 33 properties owned by oligarchs who had been hit by sanctions, including a dozen belonging to Abramovich.
Abramovich settled a libel lawsuit in December against publisher HarperCollins and journalist Catherine Belton over claims the former Financial Times Moscow correspondent had made in her book "Putin's People." The book claimed Abramovich was acting on Putin's orders when he bought the London soccer club in 2003 for £150 million (now $196.5 million). Forbes reported that Chelsea's value in April 2021 was $3.2 billion.
--Additional reporting by Najiyya Budaly, Silvia Martelli and Zachary Zagger. Editing by Joe Millis.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
