According to Lusa and Renascença Filomena Rosa, who was on Thursday at the inauguration of the new chairman of the Order of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents, the disciplinary inquiry that was opened by the IRN based on the news about Roman Abramovich obtaining Portuguese nationality that the case “should be concluded in February”, at which time, given the matter found, the investigation may or may not give rise to disciplinary proceedings.

The granting of Portuguese citizenship to the Russian billionaire and owner of the English football club Chelsea, was achieved under the Nationality Law for Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval Inquisition, in a process led by the Jewish community of Porto.

To obtain nationality, the applicant must prove that he belongs to a Sephardic community, irrespective of the current country of residence. However, the final decision and the legal certification of documents are the responsibility of the registry services and the Government.

On December 29, 2021, the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs explained that the granting of Portuguese nationality to Roman Abramovich complies with the 2014 law.

“Since 2014, with the approval of the law in the Assembly of the Republic that allows the granting of Portuguese nationality to people descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal in the 15th century, thousands of people have used this faculty that Parliament gave them to acquire Portuguese nationality”, said Augusto Santos Silva.

The information on the Russian billionaire's naturalization was revealed at the end of 2021 by Público newspaper, which added that the process took just six months. According to the daily newspaper, under the Nationality Law for Sephardic Jews, Roman Abramovich has been Portuguese since April 30.