US warrant for £330m Abramovich private jets

TWO private jets belonging to former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich were last night on a wish-list of assets the US authorities are looking to seize.

A £50million Gulfstream jet and a £280million Boeing 787 were detailed in court papers for a warrant signed off by a judge in Manhattan. The 50-seater Boeing is believed to be one of the world’s

‘Two planes are tainted assets’

costliest private planes and fitted out in ultimate luxury.

Investigators at the Department of Justice and FBI unravelled a series of shell companies to link the jets to Abramovich.

He allegedly had them flown out of the US in March without a licence. This was needed under sanctions imposed on Russia as the jets were made in the US.

A DoJ official said the planes had not yet been taken into custody but they are ‘tainted assets’. However it is uncertain if they will ever be impounded as the Gulfstream is in Russia and the Boeing is in Moscow-friendly Dubai.