Book publisher, HarperCollins have apologized to billionaire businessman, Roman Abramovich and settled out of court after he took legal action over claims in a book that he was ordered to buy Chelsea Football Club by Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The publisher has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to a charity and make amendments to author Catherine Belton’s book titled ‘Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Turned on the West. ‘
Belton’s book includes claims that in 2003 Abramovich bought Chelsea for £150million on the personal orders of the Russian president Putin.
The former Financial Times journalist’s publication quotes exiled oligarch Sergei Pugachev – once dubbed ‘Putin’s Banker’ – as the source of the Chelsea FC claims, but Abramovich maintained the allegations were untrue and damaging both to him and the club.
Now, several references to Chelsea will be deleted or changed, making it clear that the allegation came from Pugachev and that there is no hard evidence to support the claim.
A judge had previously upheld Abramovich’s claims that the book contained nine statements against him that were defamatory.
The book will now be reprinted and the ebook updated.
A statement from Pugachev will remain in the reprint, but it will also be made clear that he and his testimony and statements at a previous case were discredited.
A HarperCollins statement said: ‘HarperCollins and Catherine Belton have settled their dispute with Roman Abramovich over certain passages in Putin’s People.
‘Since publication of the first edition of the book, HarperCollins has been made aware that the book contained some inaccurate information concerning Roman Abramovich.
