Leading Rabbi arrested amid probe into Roman Abramovich’s Portuguese citizenship
Portuguese authorities have arrested a leading Rabbi and banned him from leaving the country, amid an investigation into the decision to give sanctioned Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, Portuguese citizenship, based on his supposed links to the country’s Jewish community.
Police arrested Porto Rabbi Daniel Litvak in Portugal’s second largest city, amid claims he issued the documents that allowed Abramovich to claim Portuguese citizenship, on the grounds that the Russian billionaire is a descendant of Sephardic Jews that were expelled from the country during the Inquisition.
The Rabbi’s arrest comes after Portuguese police launched a series of raids on Friday, as part of investigation into money laundering, corruption, and falsification of documents.
Portuguese authorities have now banned Litvak from leaving Portugal, amid claims Litvak was preparing to travel to Israel at the time of his arrest.
The investigation comes after Portuguese authorities on Thursday said the UK’s sanctions against Roman Abramovich would not be enforced in Portugal, as they claimed the EU is unable to sanction its own citizens.
Abramovich was granted Portuguese citizenship in April 2021, through a 2015 law that allows the descendants of Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century, to claim Portuguese citizenship.
Almost 57,000 people have been issued Portuguese citizenship through the naturalization laws, since they were first introduced seven years ago.
In order for citizenship applications to be granted, claims of Sephardic heritage must be approved by authorities in either of Portugal’s two Jewish Centres, which are based in the country’s two major cities, Porto and Lisbon. Litvak is a Rabbi at the country’s Porto Jewish Centre.
The arrest comes as Abramovich has previously faced suspicions over his claims to have Sephardic ancestry, due to the fact that Sephardic Jews have historically had few links to Russia.
The surname Abramovich is also most common amongst Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern European countries. Abramovich also has Russian and Israeli citizenship.