Official Implicated in Magnitsky Case Charged With Embezzlement

Moscow Times

A former Russian tax official implicated in a tax fraud scheme uncovered by the late Sergei Magnitsky has been charged with embezzling 4.4 billion rubles ($132 million) in state funds, a news report said Friday.

According to investigators, Olga Tsymai, a former employee of Moscow’s tax inspectorate No. 28, verified falsified tax return documents submitted by alleged swindlers and actively assisted them in obtaining tax returns through tax inspectorate No. 25, Kommersant reported, citing official files on the case.

Tsymai’s name appears on a list put together by U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin of 60 Russians suspected of being involved in the theft of $230 million in Russian government money, a theft uncovered by Magnitsky, who was subsequently accused himself of taking part in the theft and who died in prison in 2009.

Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a measure named after Magnitsky that requires the White House to publish a list of Russians suspected of human rights violations, including individuals implicated in the fraud Magnitsky uncovered and in his death. People on this so-called “Magnitsky list” are subject to visa bans and asset freezes in the U.S.

Tsymai’s name is not on that official U.S. government list, which contains only 18 names.

According to the Russian government investigation into Tsymai, she is suspected of being part of a criminal group formed in 2009 that registered nine fake firms and drew up counterfeit documents used for requesting tax returns, the Kommersant report said.

As head of the auditing department at tax inspectorate No. 28, Tsymai made sure the documents did not raise questions during checks, and the companies were subsequently approved for receiving VAT tax returns, investigators said.

The money was transferred by the Moscow branch of the Federal Treasury to the companies’ bank accounts from October 2009 to May 2010. The funds were then withdrawn by the companies or transferred abroad.

After the alleged theft, Tsymai supposedly enjoyed the protection of then-Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov while working at the Federal Agency for the Procurement of Military and Special Equipment.

The Investigative Committee said Tsymai had twice been charged with large-scale fraud but was never arrested because she had signed a pledge not to skip town, the Kommersant report said.

The former head of tax inspectorate No. 28, Olga Stepanova, is also being investigated for participating in a similar scheme involving the embezzlement of 5.4 billion rubles in tax returns that was uncovered by Magnitsky in 2007. Stepanova’s name is on the official U.S. Magnitsky list.

***Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Olga Tsymai’s name was included on the official U.S. Magnitsky list of Russians subject to visa bans and asset freezes, instead of only on the unofficial list authored by U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin of people implicated in a tax fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. Also, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Olga Stepanova is the current head of tax inspectorate No. 28, instead of the former head.*** hairy girl быстрые займы на карту https://www.zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/apply-for-payday-loan-online.php быстрые займы на карту