Lieutenant Colonel Artem Kuznetsov

Position: Deputy Head, Unit of Field Officers of Tax Crimes Division of the Moscow Branch of the Russian Interior Ministry.

Promoted to the Economic Security Department of the Russian Interior Ministry

Official Annual Salary: $10,200

Assets purchased by family since the $230 million theft: OVER US$3 Million

Born 28  February 1975

OFFICER KUZNETSOV USES HIS POSITION TO COMMIT CRIMES AND ABUSES HIS AUTHORITY TO BRING CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST ANYONE WHO REPORTS HIM.

Crimes of Lt Col Kuznetsov:

Officer Kuznetsov is a key member of the Klyuev Organized Crime Group. He uses his position in law enforcement to aid the group in committing crimes and to protect it when it gets caught. He played a key role in the theft of the $230 million from the Russian Government and in arresting Sergei Magnitsky after Magnitsky revealed the theft and testified against Officer Kuznetsov and other members of the Kluyev Organized Crime Group.

Just before Officer Kuznetsov arranged the confiscation of the Hermitage documents that were used to steal the companies and the $230 million, Officer Kuznetsov secretly flew to Larnaca, Cyprus on a private jet with Dmitry Klyuev, the head of the Klyuev Organized Crime Group and the man who owned the bank that would soon receive all the refunded money. There Kuznetsov was joined by the lawyers Pavlov and Mayorova who would go on to arrange the court judgments used to obtain the refund. Kuznetsov was also joined by his colleague officer Pavel Karpov, who flew to Larnaca, Cyprus with the lawyers. It was officer Karpov who would later open a fabricated case used to arrest Sergei Magnitsky. Shortly after the officers arrived to Cyprus, the head of Moscow Tax Office 28 who would later sign off on the fraudulent $230 million refund and her husband flew to Larnaca, Cyprus, to join the rest of the group in planning the tax theft.

Officer Kuznetsov can take credit for being a key player in a $230 million theft from his own government, he successfully brought criminal charges against everyone who reported this theft. He is directly responsible for bringing false charges against 3 lawyers, 1 of whom – Sergei Magnitsky – was arrested by his subordinates on 24 November 2008 and tortured to death in pre-trial detention. He also successfully chased 3 more lawyers out of the country who his subordinates tried to arrest on 25 November 2008. That’s a total of 1 lawyer dead and 5 he personally chased into exile.  For his services to his country he was promoted in early 2010, and to his criminal colleagues he appears to have been very well compensated with money.

Please click here to see important dates in the career of officer Kuznetsov, dates when he abused his authority.

Below are copies of documents showing over $3 million of Kuznetsov’s illicit assets located so far. All of these assets were acquired by members of officer Kuznetsov’s family after the theft that Sergei Magnitsky accused officer Kuznetsov of participating in. Complaints have been filed to see if the money that was used to buy these assets was declared and asking the authorities to investigate the source of funds in the context of Sergei Magnitsky’s testimony against officer Kuznetsov.

See below for a list of the assets Kuznetsov’s family now owns:  Real Estate, Cars. Compare it to their declared income here.

Real Estate

$1.6 million apartment purchase in the name of Kuznetsov’s mother.

Apartment: 154.5sqm 3 Davydkovskaya Ulitsa, Apt. 120 Registered to Kuznetsov’s mother Liliya Georgievna Kuznetsova Market Price $1,640.000 Purchase Date: 11 January 2007

Printout from the Unified State Register of Real Estate Rights confirming the ownership of the apartment by Kuznetsov’s mother.

[Download this document in PDF]

$990,000 apartment purchased in the name of Kuznetsov’s father.

Apartment: 83.6sqm, 23 Shabolovka Ulitsa, Apt. 296 Registered to Kuznetsov’s father Konstantin Artemovich Shaverdyan Market Price: $990,000 Purchase Date: 23 November 2007

Printout form the Unified State Register of Real Estate Rights confirming the ownership of the apartment by Kuznetsov’s father.
[Download this document in PDF]

Parents’ original apartment
3 rooms, 93.5m, Pervomayskaya Ulitsa 121, Apt 44
Registered to Kuznetsov Artem Konstantinovich
[Download this document in PDF]

Three land Plots registered under the name of Kuznetsov’s mother in the Noginsky v. Puskino district. Worth approximately $ 198,000
[Download this document in PDF]

Cars

$65,000 Land Rover registered in the name of Kuznetsov’s mother.

Land Rover Freelander 2. License Plate: E043YH177 Owned by Kuznetsov’s Mother Liliya Georgievna Kuznetsova Market Price: $65,000 Purchase Date: 5 September 2007

Printout fro the Moscow Traffic Police registry confirming the ownership of the vehicle to Kuznetsov’s mother.

$81,000 Mercedes-Benz registered in the name of Kuznetsov’s wife.

Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 Kompressor License Plate A152AA77 Owned by Kuznetsov’s wife Nina Grigorievna Nikiforova Market Price: $81,000 Purchase Date: 15 August 2008

Printout fro the Moscow Traffic Police registry confirming the ownerhip of the vehicle to Kuznetsov’s wife.

$131,000 Range Rover registered in the name of Kuznetsov’s wife.

Land Rover Range Rover – VOGUE License Plate O052OO97 Owned by Kuznetsov’s wife Nina Grigorievna Nikiforova Market Price: $131,000 Purchase Date: 23 December 2008

Printout fro the Moscow Traffic Police registry confirming the ownership of the vehicle to Kuznetsov’s wife.

Declared Income

Loan agreement for the vehicle of Kuznetsov’s mother Liliya Georgievna Kuznetsova.  She declares her family income as 115,000 rubles ($3,700) per month $45,100 per year).
[Download this document in PDF]

Kuznetsov’s bill for staying at the luxury 5* Londa hotel in Limassol, Cyprus.
[Download this document in PDF].

Promotion

Lt Col Kuznetsov and Major Karpov, two Russian Interior Ministry officers who played a major role in the theft of $230 million from the Russian budget and the false arrest and persecution of Magnitsky were promoted to higher positions within the Interior Ministry, according to a Russian newspaper Vedomosti (see an article from 20 January 2010).

Lt Col Artem Kuznetsov, officer of the Moscow Branch of the Interior Ministry, was promoted to the Federal Department of Economic Security in the Interior Ministry.

important dates in the career of officer Kuznetsov, dates when he abused his authority.
Below is a short timeline showing important dates in officer Kuznetsov’s career.

August 2006: Artem Kuznetsov, along with Major Pavel Karpov and a convicted killer Victor Markelov, were accused of organizing kidnapping of a young businessman and father, Fedor Mikheev, and attempting to extort $20 million from Mikheev’s boss (Case 352470). According to his testimony, Mr. Mikheev was kidnapped and held as a hostage for more than a week until a team of special forces freed him. A criminal case into the kidnapping was opened, where officers Kuznetsov and Karpov came under investigation, and their accomplice, a convicted killer, Viktor Markelov was arrested. Mr Mikheev testified about the role of Lt Col Kuznetsov and other officers in his kidnapping. In a short while, officers Kuznetsov and Karpov had Mr. Mikheev arrested and put into a cell with one of the criminals who had kidnapped him. Mr. Mikheev was pressured to withdraw his testimony against Lt Col Kuznetsov and other officers. He refused and the officers sent him to prison for 11 years where he is today. After that, Lt Col Kuznetsov and his accomplice Markelov ceased to be the subjects of the investigation, and the case against them was closed. KUZNETSOV SENT AN INNOCENT MAN (FATHER OF 2) TO PRISON FOR 11 YEARS.

4 June 2007: Lt Col Kuznetsov lead two raids on the offices of Hermitage Fund, the largest portfolio investor and one of the largest taxpayers in Russia, and Firestone Duncan, an American-owned law firm in Moscow. He confiscated the original statutory documents and seals of the Hermitage Fund companies without a warrant and put them into the custody of his colleague, Major Pavel Karpov at the Moscow branch of the Russian Interior Ministry.

11 and 20 September 2007: The documents and seals being held by officers Kuznetsov and Karpov were used to fraudulently change registration records of three Hermitage Fund companies and re-register them in the name of the convicted killer Viktor Markelov. This is the same killer who according to Mikheev’s testimony had worked with officers Kuznetsov and Karpov 1 year previously when they were all accused of kidnapping and extortion.

3 December 2007: Hermitage Fund lawyers reported Kuznetsov’s and Karpov’s abuses of office and complicity in the theft of Hermitage Fund companies and requested to open a criminal case against them. Complaints were filed with the heads of the Russian Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry Internal Affairs Department and the General Prosecutor. Hermitage’s complaints accusing officers Kuznetsov and Karpov were forwarded for examination and possible investigation to… officer Karpov.

24 December 2007: Moscow tax authorities approved in one day a request for a $230 million tax refund fraudulently filed by Markelov and his accomplices. Authorities paid out $230 million two days later to bank accounts opened just ten days before by Markelov and his accomplices. These bank accounts were in a bank owned by another figure in the Mikheev kidnapping case.  LT COL KUZNETSOV IS A KEY PLAYER IN A SUCCESSFUL HUGE THEFT FROM THE STATE AND HIS RELATIVES START BUYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF PROPERTY.

5 February 2008: Hermitage Fund lawyers succeeded in getting a criminal case opened to investigate the theft of the 3 Hermitage Fund companies and the role of Lt Col Kuznetsov and Major Karpov in the theft.

26 February 2008: To punish Hermitage for reporting them, officers Kuznetsov and Karpov retaliated by initiating a criminal case against Hermitage executives. Kuznetsov’s subordinates, together with an FSB officer Kuvaldin and Major Karpov flew to the Russian republic of Kalmykia and pressured local investigators to reopen a criminal tax investigation that had been initiated by FSB (Russian intelligence service) in 2004 and closed in 2005 due to lack of crime. Then they had the case moved to their control in Moscow. KUZNETSOV OPENED A CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO HIRED LAWYERS TO REPORT HIS CORRUPTION.

5 May 2008: Lt Col Kuznetsov filed a report seeking to initiate a criminal case against the Hermitage Fund lawyers who reported him for the theft of Hermitage Fund companies. Kuznetsov alleged that lawyers’ powers of attorney to file complaints reporting the theft on behalf of the Hermitage Fund companies needed to come from the criminals who stole these companies.  In short, Kuznetsov argued that the lawyers had committed a crime by reporting the theft without authorization from the new criminal “owners”.

5 June 2008: Sergei Magnitsky gave his first witness testimony to investigator Gordievsky of the South district of Moscow Prosecutor Office about the theft of Hermitage Fund companies and the role of Lt Col Kuznetsov and Major Karpov in this theft. At this point he had not yet had full evidence of how these officers and their accomplices organised the fraudulent refund to rob the government of taxes. Magnitsky had arrived with his lawyer early and they saw officer Kuznetsov in Gordievsky’s office. Sergei asked why Lt Col Kuznetsov was there and investigator Gordievsky explained that Kuznetsov was appointed to the investigation team under this criminal case. Sergei Magnitsky then explained that Kuznetsov was one of the people Gordievsky should be investigating for the theft, not working with on the investigation. KUZNETSOV WAS NOW IN CHARGE OF INVESTIGATING HIMSELF.

June-July 2008: Sergei Magnitsky discovered the stolen companies were used by the criminals to steal $230 million from the Russian budget.

23 July 2008: Hermitage Fund lawyers filed formal complaints with the Russian government and law enforcement bodies regarding the stolen budget funds and the lack of investigation into the perpetrators who also stole the Hermitage Fund companies despite substantial evidence of officers’ abuse submitted in Hermitage Fund complaints filed starting from 3 December 2007.

20 August 2008: One month after Hermitage Fund complaints about the stolen budget funds and the lack of investigation of complicit Interior Ministry officers were filed, police searched offices of all Russian lawyers representing the Hermitage Fund from four different law firms. In a further act of intimidation, lawyers received summonses from police for questioning as witnesses in relation to the thefts and corruption they reported on behalf of their client, in violation of the law that prohibits such questioning. Lt Col Kuznetsov continued to push for the criminal case against two Hermitage lawyers to be opened on the basis of the report he authorised in May. The two lawyers realized that returning to Russia would endanger their safety. KUZNETSOV CHASED THE TWO LAWYERS WHO REPORTED HIS CRIME OUT OF RUSSIA.

7 October 2008: Sergei Magnitsky testified again stating that Lt Col Kuznetsov and Major Karpov were involved in the thefts and abuse of office, and that they were unlawfully prosecuting the Hermitage lawyers who reported them.

12 November 2008: By decision of Deputy Head of Interior Ministry’s Investigative Committee Oleg Logunov, Lt Col Kuznetsov and his three subordinates (Droganov, Tolchinsky and Krechetov) were made part of the investigative team in the retaliatory criminal case against Hermitage executives and directed the case further to punish Magnitsky for his testimony.

24 November 2008: Lt Col Kuznetsov’s subordinates arrested Sergei Magnitsky. KUZNETSOV TOOK THE THIRD LAWYER HOSTAGE AND NEUTRALIZED HIM BY DETAINING HIM.

25 November 2008: Lt Col Kuznetsov’s subordinates came to arrest three of Sergei Magnitsky’s lawyer colleagues. They were not home and decided to stay outside of Russia for their safety. KUZNETSOV NEUTRALIZED ANOTHER 3 LAWYERS BY CHASING THEM OUT OF RUSSIA.

24 November 2008 – 16 November 2009: Lt Col Kuznetsov’s subordinates submitted false reports to seek Sergei Magnitsky’s  continued detention without trial. On the basis of their reports, judges five times refused to release Magnitsky from detention where he was tortured and pressured to withdraw his testimony against officers Kuznetsov and Karpov and to falsely implicate himself and his client in the crime committed by Interior Ministry officers. On 11 November 2009, Magnitsky filed a complaint with the Moscow court stating his determination to bring to trial the officers who falsely imprisoned him, fabricated the case against him and tampered with the case materials. Five days later, on 16 November 2009, Sergei Magnitsky was reported dead by prison officials who for four months denied Magnitsky any pain relief and medical treatment for acute pancreatitis he developed in pre-trial detention. SERGEI MAGNITSKY DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF OFFICERS HE ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION. THE WITNESS WAS PERMANENTLY SILENCED.

January 2010: Lt Col Kuznetzov was promoted from the Moscow branch of the Interior Ministry to the Federal Branch. A major promotion.

To see the complaints that have been filed and answers that have been received click here.

File here your complaints about the crimes of the Untouchables to Russian President, Head of Russian Parliament and Russian General Prosecutor.