Sergei Magnitsky

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: Russia Reissues Arrest Warrant for William Browder and his Magnitsky Justice Campaign Colleague

17 February 2017 – Today, the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow reissued an arrest warrant for William Browder, head of the Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and his colleague, Ivan Cherkasov, in the latest act of retaliation against the campaigners.

The Russian arrest warrant is in clear response to the global roll-out of the Magnitsky sanctions legislation. In December 2016, the US Global Magnitsky Act was signed by the US president, and on the same day the Estonian Magnitsky Act was signed by Estonia’s president.

In the following month, Russian authorities scurried to produce multiple decrees leading to the current arrest warrant.

The arrest warrant approved by judge Gordeev is issued under the long-running criminal proceedings, orchestrated by the Russian FSB, and used in July 2013 to conduct the posthumous trial against Sergei Magnitsky and in absentia Mr Browder (case No 153123, from which a file was separated and given a new number No 41701007754000008).

The repeat arrest warrant has been immediately dispatched to the Russian National Central Bureau of Interpol.

Russian attempts to use Interpol in their attack against William Browder have been rejected by Interpol three times since 2013 as politically motivated and in violation of Interpol’s Rules.

The UK authorities have also refused multiple requests by Russia for mutual legal assistance in the proceedings against William Browder and his colleague because the British government deemed such assistance would be contrary to UK’s public order, sovereignty and other national interests.

The repeat Russian arrest warrant for Messrs Browder and Cherkasov is the fourth attempt by Russian authorities to try to misuse the mechanisms of international legal cooperation for political purposes.

To justify their repeat arrest warrant, the Russian authorities continue to rely on stale allegations of corporate tax evasion, in spite of the fact that the paid taxes had been stolen by a group of Russian officials in the US$230 mln tax rebate fraud exposed by Sergei Magnitsky.

The latest arrest warrant also alleges that Browder and Cherkasov were involved in “false bankruptcy.” This allegation was made by Russian General Prosecutor Chaika who accused Browder of funding a video exposing the abuse and corruption by Chaika’s family, in which Browder had no involvement.

In support of the repeat arrest warrant, the Russian Interior Ministry produced documents from FSB, Russia’s security service, including testimony obtained from a Russian national at the FSB’s regional headquarters, where, according to him and his lawyer, he was pressured and threatened with death “like Magnitsky.”

The arrest warrant is signed by Russian Interior Ministry Investigator Ranchenkov and sanctioned by a senior Interior Ministry official Krakovsky. Other Russian officials participating in this proceeding are prosecutor of the General Prosecutor’s Office Kulikov and Russian tax service official Mostovoi, previously involved in the posthumous trial against Sergei Magnitsky, acting on power of attorney signed by the head of the Russian tax service Mishustin.

 

For more information, please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

billbrowder.com

twitter.com/Billbrowder

US Government Sanctions Further Russian Human Rights Violators Under Magnitsky Act

9 January 2017 – The US Government has sanctioned further individuals in the Magnitsky case, including its most high-profile designation to date – Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian State Investigative Committee.
“The Magnitsky sanctions are the most effective tool available today for fighting the impunity of corrupt officials in Russia. Today’s release of the new names includes the highest level government official to date, Alexander Bastrykin. In addition to the role he played in the Magnitsky case, he has been responsible for many other shocking human rights abuse cases. His inclusion on this list is a major victory in our fight for justice in Russia,” said William Browder, leader of global Magnitsky justice campaign.

Alexander Bastrykin, in his capacity as head of the Investigative Committee, personally oversaw the investigations into the false arrest, torture and death in Russian police custody of Sergei Magnitsky who had uncovered the US$230 million theft by Russian officials.

In spite of the conclusions of the Russian President’s Human Rights Council on the wrongful arrest of Sergei Magnitsky and the conflict of interest of implicated officials, the Bastrykin-led Investigative Committee closed the death investigation, finding no crime was committed by any Russian officials.

Bastrykin directed and publicly justified the exoneration of all officials involved. In his interview to the Russian state newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, on 7 September 2010, Alexander Bastrykin said:

“There is no ground to think that his [Magnitsky’s] death was connected to actions of officials who prosecuted him. There is no objective information showing that he was prosecuted illegally or that the physical and psychological pressure was applied to him.”
Another sanctioned official under today’s designations is Stanislav Gordievsky from the Russian Investigative Committee, to whom Sergei Magnitsky gave testimony on 5 June 2008 and 7 October 2008 identifying the officials and organised criminals involved in the theft of companies and the US$230 million of tax monies from the Russian government.

The names in Magnitsky’s testimony included Lt Col Artem Kuznetsov, Major Pavel Karpov, lawyers working for the criminal group Andrei Pavlov and Yulia Mairova and others. Instead of properly investigating the fraud and bringing the officials exposed by Magnitsky to justice, investigator Gordievsky requested one of the main named suspects – Lt Col Kuznetsov – to investigate himself – and then Gordievsky exonerated Kuznetsov from any wrong-doing.

In the subsequent testimony of 14 October 2009 from pre-trial detention, Sergei Magnitsky described this cover up in great detail:

“The same authorized operative Kuznetsov …provided the operational assistance on the case …initiated by the Investigative Committee… on the subject of the theft of the companies. In addition, he was providing operational assistance on the criminal case under which I was accused. I believe that the criminal prosecution against me is the above person’s revenge against me, because during my meetings with investigator S.E. Gordievsky… I …expressed my opinion that Kuznetsov …. should be interrogated about the circumstances of stealing…., instead of being allowed to perform operational assistance on the case investigated by S.E. Gordievsky.”

A third individual included today in the US Government’s Magnitsky list is Gennady Plaksin. Gennady Plaksin was a member of the Klyuev Organised Crime Group, and chairman of the board and nominal shareholder of Universal Savings Bank on behalf of Dmitry Klyuev, who is already subject to Magnitsky sanctions. Mr Plaksin appeared as a nominal claimant in a collusive court case orchestrated by the criminal group to steal US$230 million from the Russian government. Plaksin was involved in the creation of US$325 million of fictitious liabilities. Despite the evidence of his role in the US$230 million theft uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, Mr Plaksin was exonerated in Russia.

The US$230 million fraud was a sophisticated criminal conspiracy perpetrated in Russia to steal US$230 million of taxes paid by the three Russian companies of the Hermitage Fund, at the time the largest portfolio investor in Russia. The planning of the fraud scheme took place abroad, and money laundering of a substantial portion of the US$230 million fraud proceeds also took place outside of Russia and involved multiple international banks and accounts.

Hermitage’s outside lawyer Sergei Magnitsky uncovered the US$230 million fraud scheme and testified against those involved, including Andrei Pavlov.

Shortly thereafter, the Russian authorities arrested Sergei Magnitsky, and tried to force him to change his testimony subjecting him to cruel and degrading treatment during 358 days in pre-trial detention. When their attempts failed, Sergei Magnitsky was killed in Russian police detention at the age of 37, leaving a wife and two children.

The events of the Magnitsky case are described in the New-York Times best-seller “Red Notice” by William Browder and in a series of Magnitsky justice campaign videos on Youtube channel “Russian Untouchables.”

For more information, please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

billbrowder.com

twitter.com/Billbrowder

Magnitsky Campaign Releases Names of 28 Russian Officials Currently Involved in the Posthumous Cases Against Magnitsky for Inclusion on New International Sanctions Lists

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution

27 December 2016 – Today, the Global Campaign for Justice for Sergei Magnitsky published a list of 28 Russian officials involved in current criminal cases against Sergei Magnitsky in spite of the fact that he was killed in police custody in 2009.

The list includes 28 officials from the Russian Interior Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office, FSB and the Investigative Committee.

The release of these new names coincides with the consideration or passage of Magnitsky sanctions legislation in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Estonia and at the EU.

The two Russian officials who had instigated the persecution of Sergei Magnitsky posthumously – Deputy General Prosecutor Victor Grin and Interior Ministry investigator Oleg Urzhumtsev – have already been sanctioned under the “Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.”

The Russian officials listed below have rejected numerous complaints filed by Magnitsky’s mother, Natalia Magnitskaya.

Mrs Magnitskaya’s most recent complaint filed by her lawyer with the Russian authorities seeking to end the posthumous persecution of her son, said:

” It is currently known that the same criminal group [which stole US$230 million] perpetrated a number of similar crimes, and the amount of funds stolen from the budget is about US$800 million. S. Magnitsky was placed into custody on 24 November 2008 soon after he gave testimony implicating members of this criminal group. In a little less than a year, on 16 November 2009, he was found dead in the cell of the collection unit of Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. The location and nature of injuries on his body indisputably testify to the violent causes of the death of S.Magnitsky.

After S. Magnitsky was physically eliminated, investigator O. Urzhumtsev created a knowingly false version of the crime, as purportedly committed by S. Magnitsky himself, which was aimed to compromise the deceased and was monstrous in its cynicism and injustice.”

The Russian Interior Ministry refused Mrs Magnitskaya’s complaint against her son’s posthumous persecution on the ground that Mrs Magnitskaya did not have a procedural status to lodge this complaint, and said:

“The investigation sees no grounds to treat Mrs Magnitskaya as a person whose interests are affected by the criminal prosecution.”

The refusal of Mrs Magnitskaya’s complaint was prepared by Russian Interior Ministry investigator Ranchenkov pursuant to a criminal case about the laundered US$230 million proceeds of fraud – the crime uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky and in which he is being posthumously accused by the Russian authorities. This posthumous proceeding is currently overseen by deputy head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department Krakovsky and deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Investigations of Organised Criminal Activity Shneiderman.

List of Officials Persecuting Sergei Magnitsky Posthumously – 2011-2016:

1. R. Filippov – investigator of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky under case No 678540

2. P. Tambovtsev – investigator of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky under case No 678540

3. A. Ranchenkov – investigator of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky under case No 678540

4. Y. Shinin – first deputy head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department who sanctioned the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

5. M. Alexandrov – head of Directorate of Investigations of Organised Crime and Corruption of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department, deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department, and then deputy head of the General Prosecutor’s Office Directorate of the Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases, overseeing cases against Sergei Magnitsky posthumously

6. A. Saribzhanov – deputy head of Directorate of Investigations of Organised Crime and Corruption of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department who refused complaint from Magnitsky’s mother against the posthumous persecution of her son

7. S. Shamin – head of 2nd section of Directorate of Investigations of Organised Crime and Corruption of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department who sanctioned posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

8. A. Ryabtsev – head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Main Department of Economic Security and Combating Corruption(Department “K”), involved in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and exoneration of those involved in Magnitsky’s death

9. D. Mityaev – official of the Russian Interior Ministry’s MainDepartment of Economic Security and Combating Corruption(Department “K”), involved in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and exoneration of those involved in Magnitsky’s death

10. A. Krakovsky – deputy head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky seven years after his death in custody

11. S. Shneiderman – deputy head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky seven years after his death in custody

12. S. Murashev – deputy head of second section of the Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky seven years after his death in custody

13. V. Yudin – head of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office Directorate of Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

14. V. Ignashin – deputy head of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office Directorate of Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

15. S. Bochkarev – prosecutor of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office Directorate of Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

16. A. Kulikov – prosecutor of the second section of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office Directorate of Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases, responsible for the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

17. D. Stroitelev – head of section of the FSB’s Directorate K (Financial Counterintelligence) involved in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and refusal of complaint from Magnitsky’s mother

18. V. Komarov – officer of the FSB’s Directorate K (Financial Counterintelligence) involved in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

19. A. Pogrebnyak – officer of the FSB’s Directorate K (Financial Counterintelligence) involved in the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky

20. E. Golubev – investigator of the Russian Investigations Committee who exonerated tax officials from liability for the US$230 million theft and posthumously persecuted Sergei Magnitsky in spite of complaints from Magnitsky’s mother

21. V. Alyshev – deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee who exonerated from liability Interior Ministry officials who persecuted Sergei Magnitsky

22. A. Iskantsev – acting head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee who exonerated from liability Interior Ministry officials who persecuted Sergei Magnitsky

23. S. Olkhovnikov – deputy head of the second investigative section of the first investigative department for Central District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft

24. S. Kiryukhin – head of the second investigative section of the first investigative department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft

25. L. Kolobkova – deputy head of the first investigative department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft

26. A. Prokopets – acting head of the first investigative department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft

27. R. Erdniev – deputy head of the Directorate of Procedural Oversight over Investigations of Especially Important Cases in Federal Districts of the Russian Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft

28. Y. Tyutyunnik – acting head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigations Committee overseeing the posthumous persecution of Sergei Magnitsky and the exoneration of officials implicated by Magnitsky in the US$230 million theft.

For further information please contact:

Global Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

www.billbrowder.com

twitter.com/Billbrowder

 
Extract from Mrs Magnitskaya’s Complaint against her son’s posthumous persecution

Below is an extract from the complaint filed with the Russian Interior Ministry by Mrs Magnitskaya’s lawyer against her son’s posthumous persecution:

“The investigation of this criminal case affects the constitutional rights of Mrs Magnitskaya and her deceased son.

Since the end of 2007 and in 2008 Sergei Magnitsky took active part in exposing the criminal group responsible for the theft of 5.4 billion roubles [US$230 million] from the state budget under the disguise of a tax refund.

Today, the investigation has numerous proofs that the theft had been committed by the criminal group which comprised heads of Moscow Tax Inspectorates No 25 and 28 E.Khimina and O.Stepanova and their subordinates; owner and employees of Universal Savings Bank; previously convicted Markelov, Kurochkin and Khlebnikov; officials from the Moscow Interior Ministry’s Tax Crime Department who assisted them, and others.

Furthermore, it is currently known that the same criminal group perpetrated a number of similar crimes, and the amount of funds stolen from the budget is about US$800 million. The theft of 5.4 billion roubles was not the first and not the last in the list of their crimes. Having unlimited financial resources at their disposal and having secured protection at the high administrative level, they have organised persecution against those who disrupted and exposed their criminal activity.

S. Magnitsky was placed into custody on 24 November 2008 soon after he gave testimony implicating members of this criminal group. In a little less than a year, on 16 November 2009, he was found dead in the cell of the collection unit of Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. The location and nature of injuries on his body indisputably testify to the violent causes of the death of S.Magnitsky.

After S. Magnitsky was physically eliminated, investigator O. Urzhumtsev created a knowingly false version of the crime, as purportedly committed by S. Magnitsky himself, which was aimed to compromise the deceased and was monstrous in its cynicism and injustice.

The decree to commence a criminal case, investigator O.Urzhumtsev included data about alleged complicity of S. Magnitsky in the 5.4 billion roubles theft, which in fact S.Magnitsky had uncovered.”

The complaint from Mrs Magnitskaya’s lawyer further says that the conclusion on complicity of S. Magnitsky in the wrong-doing is a knowing lie and slander, contrary to the article 8 of the Russian Criminal Procedure Code which stipulates that no one can be recognised as guilty in committing the offence in the absence of a court judgment.

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: Bill Browder to Give Damning Testimony On the Criminality of the Putin Regime to UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee

8 November 2016 – Bill Browder, author of the best-selling book, “Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s Number One Enemy,” and leader of the global Magnitsky Justice campaign, will testify in the British parliament today, 8 November 2016, at 3:45 pm.

 

The hearing entitled “Critics of the Kremlin give evidence” is part of an inquiry on the UK’s relations with Russia and is organized by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.

 

Mr Browder will speak about his personal experience of dealing with Russian authorities, who have declared him a threat to national security; his campaign’s recent discoveries connecting illicit funds stolen from the Russian people directly to President Putin’s cronies; the role of Western enablers in attempting to protect Russia’s kleptocrats in the UK, and the implications for UK-Russia policy.

 

Mr Browder will talk about the fate of his young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered the theft of US$230 million from the Russian treasury by a criminal enterprise involving Russian officials, and who was killed in Russian police custody at the age of 37.
After Magnitsky’s death, Russian authorities posthumously accused him of the crime he had uncovered and exonerated all officials.

 

The Global Magnitsky Justice campaign has uncovered illicit funds connected to the US$230 million laundered in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, and a number of proceedings around the world have been initiated as a result.

 

The Global Magnitsky Justice campaign also calls for targeted visa and financial sanctions on those connected to Sergei Magnitsky’s death and the crime he had uncovered. A law imposing such sanctions was introduced in the USA in 2012. A similar legislation has been initiated in the UK.

 

The testimony by Mr Browder on UK-Russia relations will take place at Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, and will start at 3.45pm on Tuesday, 8 November 2016.

 

Mr Browder will be preceded by Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky who will also give evidence to the committee.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

billbrowder.com

twitter.com/Billbrowder

 

Announcement of the hearing on UK-Russia relations at the Commons Select Committee:

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/russia-critics-evidence-16-17/

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky: US$14 Million Connected to Proceeds of US$230 Million Fraud Uncovered by Magnitsky Have Been Traced to Canada

27 October 2016 – US$14 Million of suspected illicit proceeds connected to the US$230 million Russian fraud uncovered by Hermitage’s murdered Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, have been traced to Canada.

In a complaint filed with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and eleven other law enforcement agencies this week, Hermitage’s lawyer, Lincoln Caylor of Bennett Jones LLP, outlined US$220,000 in proceeds which were transferred to Canada from two Cyprus accounts.  These two Cyprus accounts are connected to the leader of the Klyuev Organized Crime Group, Dmitry Klyuev, who is sanctioned under the US Magnitsky Act for his involvement in the Magnitsky case. These transactions can be traced back to the $230 million tax rebate fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky in 2008.

An additional $1.5 million was wired to Canada through a number of different accounts which can also be traced back to the fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, and a further US$12.6 million in suspicious money transfers were wired from Canada back to the money laundering network used by the Russian fraudsters.

“Based on the present information, it is clear that Canada has a role to play in investigating the crime uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky,” said Bill Browder, leader of the global Magnitsky justice campaign.

The news comes amidst the debate in the Canadian parliament on the implementation of Magnitsky sanctions legislation in Canada, similar to that adopted by the US. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe, of which Canada is a member, also urged member states to adopt these sanctions in a 2012 Magnitsky resolution.

In 2008, Hermitage’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky uncovered the US$230 million fraud and testified about the complicity of Russian officials in the fraud. He was falsely arrested by the Russian Interior Ministry, detained for 358 days without trial, tortured and killed in Russian police custody at the age of 37.

After Magnitsky’s death, Russian authorities posthumously accused him of the crime he had uncovered and exonerated all officials. Hermitage’s global justice campaign has identified numerous beneficiaries around the world who received funds laundered from the crime uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.

Investigations into the laundering of proceeds of the US$230 million fraud have been opened in multiple countries, including the USA, France, and Switzerland.

 

The events of this case are described in the New-York Times best-seller, “Red Notice” by William Browder, and in a series of campaign videos which can be seen on the YouTube channel, “Russian Untouchables.”

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

billbrowder.com

twitter.com/Billbrowder