Rabbi who helped Roman Abramovich get citizenship barred from leaving Portugal
Portuguese authorities investigating irregularities regarding Jewish ancestry claims
A rabbi under investigation for helping Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich get Portuguese citizenship has been barred from leaving Portugal, news agency Lusa reported Saturday.
Police confirmed Friday that authorities detained and questioned Porto Rabbi Daniel Litvak surrounding possible irregularities related to Jewish ancestry claims.
Since 2015, Portugal has granted nationality to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Portugal and Spain in the 15th century.
It was through that system that Abramovich, who was sanctioned Thursday by the UK for connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin, became a Portuguese citizen in April 2021.
With a fortune of €14 billion ($15.3 billion), he also became the single richest person in Portugal at the time, according to the Publico newspaper.
Although Abramovich has not been sanctioned in the EU, Portuguese officials have been looking into possible corruption surrounding his ancestry claims since January.
The investigation centered around the Jewish community in Porto, which may have benefited from falsely vouching for the Sephardic origins of individuals such as Abramovich.
In December, Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny also accused Portuguese officials of taking bribes in exchange for granting citizenship to the billionaire.
The soon-to-be former owner of the Chelsea football club in the UK also holds Israeli, Lithuanian and Russian citizenships.
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