Russian officials with alleged link to lawyer’s death face US ban

The Guardian, by Elena Moya

Russian officials and other individuals allegedly involved in the death of a London hedge fund’s lawyer in Moscow face being banned from entering the US and conducting financial dealings there.

Two congressmen today introduced the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky bill, named after Hermitage Capital’s 37-year-old lawyer, who died last year in a Russian jail without access to medical help when he was seriously ill.

Magnitsky had been imprisoned two years ago by Russian officials following an alleged $230m (£143m) tax fraud involving Hermitage Capital. The fund’s millionaire founder Bill Browder claims Russian government and police officials were behind the death of his former employee in prison.

“Nearly a year after Sergei’s death, the leading figures in this scheme remain in power in Russia,” said US senator Benjamin Cardin, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “It has become clear that if we expect any measure of justice in this case, we must act in the United States. At the least we can and should block these corrupt individuals from travelling and investing their ill-gotten money in our country.”

Hermitage alleges that its position as Russia’s largest foreign investor in 2004 and 2005 unsettled the Russian establishment, leading to Browder being denied entry to the country. His petition for a new visa led to a string of threats that ended up with the police raiding Hermitage’s Moscow offices and seizing all its documents.

The hedge fund claims corrupt officials took control of the firm and made it appear that three Hermitage subsidiaries were loss-making – for which they demanded a tax rebate of $230m.

Browder is still banned from entry to Russia and has removed his staff from the fund’s offices in Moscow. “Making the visa ban initiative into law is a further step by US lawmakers in showing their commitment in the fight against endemic corruption in Russia,” Browder said. “It is also a tribute to the ideals of Sergei Magnitsky, who believed in the rule of law and justice and fought for them until the last moments of his young life.”

The Russian authorities are now investigating the lawyer’s death and this week the foreign secretary, William Hague, raised the issue before an official trip to Moscow next month. Hague said it was important that the new Russian investigation was “thorough and transparent”.
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