$135 Million of Russian Government Money Stolen by the Criminal Group Exposed by Sergei Magnitsky Has Been Found in Eight Different Countries

Press Release
Hermitage Capital

24 September 2012 – After two years of a forensic investigation involving the authorities and courts in four different countries, journalists from Novaya Gazeta and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project have identified where $135 million of the money stolen from the Russian treasury by a criminal group exposed by the murdered lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, ended up.  The money was traced through U.S., Swiss, Moldovan and Russian bank records to accounts in 8 different jurisdictions, 62 offshore accounts and 20 different banks. The money was found in Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Cyprus, Hong Kong and three Baltic republics.

This is the largest single discovery outside of Russia of bank accounts and individuals who were involved in the corrupt conspiracy to steal Russian treasury funds uncovered by late Sergei Magnitsky.

One of the most significant discoveries from this new investigation is documentary evidence showing a link between the funds from the Russian treasury through 10 different banks in 4 different jurisdictions and the accounts at Credit Suisse Private Bank in Zurich of a company belonging to Vladlen Stepanov, ex-husband of former head of Moscow tax office number 28.  The money from this account was shown to have been used to pay for multi-million dollar properties in Dubai for Vladlen Stepanov (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D252.pdf) and two officials of the Moscow Tax Office 28 – Olga Tsareva and Elena Anisimova – and their relatives (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D247.pdf, http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D246.pdf).

Another important trail from the stolen treasury funds was a $1,468,023 payment to accounts at UBS in Zurich.  Previous investigations have revealed that $800 million was stolen by the Russian officials and criminals exposed by Sergei Magnitsky using the same scheme during a four-year period of 2006-2010, including $230 million paid in taxes to the Russian government by Hermitage Fund’s Russian companies in 2006.  This money was illegally refunded in one day, on 24 December 2007, under the guise of a “tax refund” by criminals working with Russian tax and Interior Ministry officials. Families of those officials have since been shown to have become rich well in excess of their government salaries.

Hermitage Capital has filed 8 criminal complaints with the prosecutors and police in the eight foreign jurisdictions, alerting them to the stolen funds and asking for the accounts to be frozen and criminal investigations to be opened.  The applications say:

“Our clients have discovered that the funds held at and which moved through these accounts represent a portion of some $800 million in illicit proceeds generated in a criminal scheme involving the theft of funds from the Russian Treasury, as well as proceeds of similar crimes earlier, payments to corrupt Russian officials and members of their families involved in the scheme, and fraud, of which $230 million relates to taxes paid to the Russian Treasury by Hermitage and the Hermitage Fund, as well as to other ongoing criminal activity.”

“Because the Russian authorities have blocked all applications to investigate the money trail and to bring implicated Russian officials to justice, our efforts have been focused on criminal justice opportunities outside Russia,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

Sergei Magnitsky who uncovered the unprecedented fraud against the Russian people and the Russian state, was arrested by officers he had implicated, tortured and killed in custody. In November 2010, he was posthumously honored by Transparency International with the Integrity Award (http://www.transparency.org/getinvolved/awardwinner/sergei_magnitsky) for his fight against official corruption.

As of now, not a single member of the Russian government has been prosecuted for the theft of the funds or the murder of Sergei Magnitsky.  Earlier, Magnitsky’s former boss, U.S. lawyer Jamison Firestone, filed three applications with the Russian Investigative Committee seeking to open a criminal inquiry into the Russian tax officials who authorized the tax refunds, and into the high-ranking government officials who have been blocking any investigation.   Firestone also filed seven requests to investigate the illicit wealth of the families of tax and police officials implicated in the thefts, and the criminal activities of the Klyuev organized crime group since 2002. The Russian authorities have not opened any probes into anyone named in Firestone’s applications.

 

For further information please contact:

Hermitage Capital
Phone:             +44 207 440 1777
Email:             info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:          http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook:       http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter:           @KatieFisher__
Livejournal:    //hermitagecap.livejournal.com/

Investigation by Novaya Gazeta here:
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/inquests/53950.html

Investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project:
http://www.reportingproject.net/proxy/en/following-the-magnitsky-money

Child Abuse In Buenos Aires Runs Rampant

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – In a worrying turn of events, a report has surfaced that indicates that about “four out of ten minors” living in public institutions in the province of Beunos Aires, Argentina have suffered from some sort of abuse.

Child Workers in Argentina. (Photo Courtesy of Press TV)

According to documents released by UNICEF Province, “43.7 percent” of  male youths who were housed in homes and similar institutions like foster care were subject to abuse. The report indicates that about 1680 children were subjected to various forms of violence and abuse from their parents, relatives or care takers.

The data, collected by the Unified Statistical Register (REUNA) of the Ministry of Children and Adolescents indicates that the levels of abuse are wide ranging. About 1680 kids out of 3846 investigated and surveyed suffered some sort of violence including “physical psychological, or emotional, sexual abuse or neglect” or a simple lack of basic care.

The report continued that of the remaining 56.3% of children who were placed in homes, 7.9% of these children were abandoned by their parents and another 18.7% were under supervised before being taken from their parents.

9.3% of children and adolescents who had placed into public institutions admitted to having problems with addiction. Another 2% admitted to vulnerable disabilities with their psychopathology.

According to the Ministry of Children and Adolescents, psychological abuse includes “psychological or emotional abuse” and can include “Verbal hostility… insults, ridicule, contempt, criticism or threats of abandonment.

Sebastian Gastelu, the Undersecretary for Promotion and Protection of rights reiterates that “child abuse is a problem of society, regardless of class or any other,” and that this is not just “physical violence and sexual abuse, but also verbal abuse, humiliation and psychological abuse.”

The report was released during the latest meeting of the Interministerial Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Rights held in the city of Junín, in the province of Beunos Aires in Argentina. Pablo Navarro, the Secretary for Children and Adolescents pledges a “strong commitment to direct public policy towards strengthening mechanism for preventing and addressing violence against children.”

Whatever the ultimate solution is, the world is looking towards Argentina with a watchful eye.

This is just the latest in Argentina’s fight with human rights abuses of children. Earlier this year Argentina’s parliament introduced a new bill to fight child labor. Official statistics show that over “450,000 children are forced to work in agriculture, mining and fishing activities and domestic service in Argentina.”

 

For further information, please see:

Aninoticias – Over 40% Of Children Were Abused Housed In Homes – 23 September 2012

Diario Hoy – More Than 43 Percent of Children Living In Homes And Other Institutions Were Abused – 23 September 2012

Impulso baires – Province of Beunos Aires: Four In Ten Children Housed In Foster Abuse Entrants – 23 September 2012

La Nacion – Nearly Half Of Children Were Abused Housed In Homes – 23 September 2012

Press TV – Argentina’s Parliament Passes New Anti-Child Labor Bill – 9 August 2012

Syrian Children Pay Heavy Toll in Civil War

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Daily life for citizens in war-torn Syria is getting harder every day as indiscriminate attacks continue. Although the reality of war affects every aspect of life for citizens, children are especially vulnerable to the instability caused by crisis. This week marked the beginning of the school year but for many of Syria’s children learning is a luxury only afforded in peacetime.

A book lies on the ground outside a destroyed school in Aleppo. (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

According to Syria’s Ministry of Education, more than 2,000 of the country’s 22,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed and are unusable. Leila Zerrougui, the United Nations’ envoy for Children and Armed Conflict, says that she has called on the Syrian government to make the evacuation of all schools a top priority. In smaller villages, citizens whose homes have been destroyed congregate in common buildings, such as schools, for safety. The Ministry estimates that about 759 schools are being used as sanctuaries for displaced persons. But according to Amnesty International, many of these schools have been the targets of air strikes or large-caliber bullet spray from helicopters in spite of the fact that their occupants are civilians.

The Ministry claims that most schools are still operational and handling the overflow by scheduling classes in shifts. The government said more than 5 million students attended school on Sunday. But according to Dina Craissati, UNICEF’s regional education adviser, at least 200,000 children within the country are having difficulty accessing education due to internal displacement. in an effort to off-set the lack of structured school activities, UNICEF was able to provide a small number of children with “recreational kits” for entertainment.

The unavailability of education extends outside of the country’s borders, following the flow of refugees. The U.N. Children’s Fund said that the Lebanese government was struggling to place an estimated 32,000 Syrian refugee children in school. In Jordan, UNICEF is currently building a school that will hold up to 5,000 students and workers were registering school-age children at the Zaatari refugee camp.

For most children, the inability to attend school is a secondary concern. Zerrougui said that she and her staff have “documented government attacks on schools, children denied access to hospitals, girls and boys suffering and dying in bombardments of their neighborhoods, and also being subject to torture, including sexual violence, sometimes for weeks.”  Non-state groups have also committed violations against children. According to Zerrougui, the Free Syrian Army “may have children associated with their forces.”

“The situation for children in Syria is dire,” she told the Security Council.

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya News – U.N. Security Council Split over Children and Armed Conflict – 20 September 2012

CNN – Deaths Mounting in Syrian Towns; Children Being Tortured, U.N. Official Says – 20 September 2012

Huffington Post – Syria Bombardments, Air Strikes Terrorize Civilians, Amnesty International Says – 20 September 2012

CNN – Growing Jihadi Presence in Syria ‘Alarming,’ U.N. Investigator Says – 17 September 2012

Boston Globe – Civil War Keeps Many Syrian Children from School – 16 September 2012

Amnesty International – Indiscriminate Attacks Kill, Terrorize and Displace Civilians – 14 September 2012

UNICEF – As Population in Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan Soars, Focus is on Needs of Children – 14 September 2012

Brazilian Threesome Enter Into Civil Union

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – Civil Union in Brazil links three individuals together in legal matrimony. Some have seen the unions as a logical progression of civil rights, while others in conservative and religious groups have criticized its morality and legality.

San Paulo skyline, where the first Brazilian gay marriage was legalized. (Photo Courtesy of Telegraph)

The trio – a man and two women – have been living together in Rio de Janeiro for three years before tying the proverbial civil knot. The trio decided to keep their identities a secret in May when the union was formed. The public was made aware of the union in late August.

Each member of the union is connected to each other equally, unlike in traditional polygamous marriages which are followed by some religious sects.

According to the public notary who granted the civil union this union may be labeled as a “polyfidelitous union.” Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, the notary who performed the ceremony, had the couple legally registered as a “stable union” which extends all the benefits of marriage. The union entitles the trio to legal rights concerning the division of property in case of separation and death. The debate continues as to death benefits, child welfare, homeownership and health insurance plans and discounts. The legal question of what would happen with a child is thought to be left to the courts, should the trio pursue the matter.

A judge in San Paulo approved Brazil’s first gay marriage in July of 2011, converting their civil union to a marriage. While same sex unions have been legal in Brazil since 2004, this is first multi-partner union of its kind.

Critics, however, claim that “the union is void of any legality.” Regina Beatriz Tavares da Silva, the head of the family law committee of a lawyers’ association in Sao Paulo believes that it would be impossible for a civil union between three to be equal to that of union of two. “It goes directly against the constitution,” da Silva said. “Monogamy is defined as relations between two, not three or four or five.”

Religious groups have voiced their outcry as well, fearing the often cited “slippery slope” that would lead to a devaluing of the institute of marriage and family.

“The institution of family cannot be defended with the approval of actions that seek to distort its definition,” the religious, conservative Plinio Correa de Oliveira Institute said in a statement. “The purpose of this (union) is not to build families, but to destroy them.”

 

For further information, please see:

CNN – Unprecedented Civil Union Unites Brazilian Trio – 31 August 2012

Journal de Uberaba – Marriage Between Three People – 29 August 2012

The Telegraph – Three People Enter Into Civil Union In Brazil – 28 August 2012

The BBC – Three-Person Civil Union Sparks Controversy In Brazil – 28 August 2012