How Kremlin got diplomats to woo Tories
The Kremlin instructed its diplomats in London to deepen their “co-operation” with the Conservative party in an apparent attempt to mute criticism of Russia’s human rights record and to rebuild ties following the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.
Emails seen by the Guardian show the Russian embassy has played a key behind-the-scenes role in the gaffe-prone Conservative Friends of Russia. The group, which held its launch party in the garden of the Russian ambassador in August, is on the brink of collapse after the resignation last week of Sir Malcolm Rifkind, its honorary president. Two other Tory MPs, Nigel Evans and Robert Buckland, also quit after the group published a photo of a Labour MP, Chris Bryant, in his underpants. On Thursday, Prince Michael of Kent pulled out of its new year dinner. Hours later its website went offline.
The Guardian has also learned that the group’s diplomatic contact inside the Russian embassy, Sergey Nalobin, has family ties to Russia’s intelligence agencies. His father, Nikolai Nalobin, is a former KGB general. Nalobin Sr worked in a top role with the FSB, the successor to the KGB, which the government believes was involved in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko’s widow Marina said General Nalobin was her husband’s boss in the 1990s when Litvinenko was an FSB agent.
Sergey Nalobin’s brother also worked for the FSB, according to the Russian press. Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy, was head of the FSB before becoming Russian president in 2000.
Sources suggest it was Sergey Nalobin who invited Richard Royal, the chairman of Conservative Friends of Russia, and other members, to visit Moscow and St Petersburg in September on a 10-day trip paid for by the Russian government. The diplomat also set up meetings there with politicians from Putin’s United Russia and other Kremlin-approved parties. Nalobin also arranged the launch event in the ambassador’s Kensington garden and is pictured under the organisation’s banner.
Russian diplomats were “instructed by Moscow” to explore how the Conservatives and United Russia could co-operate in the Council of Europe. The two parties belong to the same faction in the council’s parliamentary assembly, with Tory members frequently voting with their Russian colleagues against motions condemning Moscow.
Sergei Cristo, a Russian-born Tory activist and fundraiser, said Nalobin approached him in December 2010, seeking introductions to top Conservative party figures. According to Cristo, Nalobin also offered to make donations to Conservative party funds via UK-registered, Russian-owned companies. No companies were named, however, and the offer never materialised.
In an April 2011 email, Nalobin wrote to Cristo: “We’ve received instructions from Moscow – to discuss the perspective of co-operation between British Conservatives and United Russia in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. With whom would it be best to discuss this question?”
Nalobin also inquired if there were young Tories who might be interested in travelling to Moscow to attend a Kremlin-sponsored youth forum. He was subsequently in contact with Royal, the group’s chairman, and with other activists who went on to form Conservative Friends of Russia. Royal and Nalobin met days before the group’s Moscow trip. Asked if he was aware of Nalobin’s ties to Russian intelligence, Royal declined to comment.
Russia has multiple reasons for seeking to influence the Conservatives. The increasingly Eurosceptic Tory party has shunned its traditional centre-right allies in Europe in favour of a pact with Putin’s party. The two are pillars of the European Democrat Group (EDG), which can only function if they cooperate. Russia has forged ad hoc alliances with the Tories and others to see off motions it regards as hostile – over its 2008 war with Georgia, for example. Moscow’s priority is to prevent the UK and other EU countries from introducing the Magnistky Act, named after the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was beaten to death in prison in Russia in 2009.
The act was approved last week by the US House of Representatives. It envisages banning 60 senior Russian officials implicated in the alleged theft of $230m (£143m) in taxes paid by Hermitage Capital, an investment fund.
The government opposes a similar act in the UK, despite widespread cross-party support. If implented it would prevent Russian officials accused of serious abuses from visiting London, a favourite destination for Kremlin bureaucrats and affluent Russians.
Surrey police are still investigating the mysterious death of Alexander Perepilichnyy, a Russian businessman, who collapsed and died on 10 November outside his mansion in Weybridge, Surrey. He had supplied bank documents to Swiss investigators probing money allegedly stolen in the Magnitsky scam.
The Nalobin email
From: Sergey Nalobin
To: Sergei Cristo
Subject: PR
Date: 25 April 2011
Dear Sergei, Thanks for the link. Will think about this. Two points:
1. We’ve received instructions from Moscow – to discuss the perspective of co-operation between British Conservatives and United Russia in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. With whom would it be best to discuss this question?
2. http://youthforum.ru/ Have a look, please, perhaps this is of interest to young Tory leaders?
Best wishes,
Sergei Nalobin быстрые займы онлайн займы на карту срочно https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/best-payday-loans.php срочный займ на карту онлайн
Shell company supergrass found dead
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/8019225/Shell-company-supergrass-found-dead
A wealthy Russian businessman who blew the whistle on massive Moscow corruption that involved New Zealand shell companies has died in mysterious circumstances in England.
Alexander Perepilichnyy, 44, was the third or fourth person linked to the scandal to have died suddenly.
His secret testimony, part of which was published in May last year by Fairfax Media papers, exposed Moscow’s Klyuev organised crime group which is accused of extorting around US$800 million (NZ$973m).
He revealed how the group laundered US$245m through Switzerland – including part of it through Queen St, Auckland, shell companies.
The Independent newspaper says Perepilichnyy, who had sought sanctuary in Britain three years ago, collapsed outside his mansion on a luxury private estate on the outskirts of Weybridge a week ago.
The newspaper says he was in seemingly good health. Surrey police said further tests will be carried out on the body.
“It was a sudden death and a post-mortem examination was carried out which was inconclusive and an inquest will now be held,” a police statement said.
“The investigation has been handed over to the coroner, subject to anything being found that requires further police investigation.”
The Independent said Swiss prosecutors were investigating the operation which involved Credit Suisse and the Moscow branch of London-based global investment advisory firm Hermitage Capital Management.
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Paranoid? Quite possibly, but it’s the price of survival
Wealthy Russians have moved to the Home Counties not to indulge a love of golf but to find shelter from what they see as predatory tax authorities, intrusive secret policemen, politicised courts and the infighting of the business caste that had a habit of turning nasty.
The high walls of gated communities in Surrey or the reassuring proximity of Windsor Great Park have not taken away the fear, however. Some assassination plots are imagined, others are real but botched. And, sometimes, a rich man drops dead in Leatherhead or Weybridge, far away from home.
The sudden death of Alexander Perepilichny, 44, and the apparent heart failure of Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, the Georgian entrepreneur, may not have been hits — but suspicions linger on. There are too many scores being settled, too many open feuds between Russia and the exiled Russians of Britain, to have blind faith in an innocent death.
When German Gorbuntsov, 45, a banker, was shot in Canary Wharf in March it seemed to some Russians that to be paranoid was to be in full possession of the facts. He survived — but it appeared to demonstrate the deadly reach of Russian vengeance.
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Russian whistleblower Alexander Perepilichnyy was warned his name was on gang hit list
Alexander Perepilichnyy, the businessman who died suddenly outside his Surrey mansion two weeks ago, was warned that his name had been found on a hit list after police in Moscow broke up a criminal gang, The Independent can reveal.
An acquaintance of the 44-year-old Russian said Mr Perepilichnyy had first received the warning in November 2011 from a family member who had been briefed by a police official. According to the acquaintance, the family member was told that his name was one of many on a list that also contained detailed dossiers on some of the targets.
“It was like an order book,” the source told The Independent. “His name was in it.”
After negotiating with the police, the family member was able to view the file. “It was detailed although it contained errors,” the source added. “It had information like the houses he had lived in but it was a year or so out of date.”
Because the details were incorrect, the source said, Mr Perepilichnyy was not overly troubled and he did not speak of any further threats to his safety before his death. Surrey Police today said they had had no previous contact with Mr Perepilichnyy and had no reason to believe he was concerned for his safety.
The new revelations came as a Moscow based lawyer claimed today that the Russian exile wanted to make peace with the group of officials he had accused of being behind a Swiss money laundering scheme in the run up to his death.
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Ban suspected Russian gangsters from the UK Dominic Raab
The body of the whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny was discovered near his Surrey home only months after he gave evidence to a Swiss investigation into money laundering. It is understood that he fingered the husband of an official implicated in Russia’s biggest tax fraud. His death is “unexplained” — the fourth unexplained death linked to the case.
Sergei Magnitsky was the first to pay with his life in 2009. Having exposed the $230 million scam, the dissident lawyer was persecuted by the officials he named. Magnitsky is the Solzhenitsyn of his age — except that Solzhenitsyn was sent to the gulag, whereas Magnitsky was tortured to death and is now being prosecuted posthumously for the crime he uncovered. Only in Putin’s Russia.
Toxicology tests are being carried out on Mr Perepilichny. Meanwhile we need to know whether any of the 60 named suspects in the Magnitsky case have been allowed to enter the UK. Government policy is not to routinely reveal the names of those subject to visa bans, but the Foreign Affairs Select Committee recommended disclosure in the public interest. In this kind of case it is vital.
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Mary Dejevsky: Britain should pass its own Magnitsky Act
It is possible that a 44-year-old Russian, whose body was found outside his house in Weybridge two weeks ago, died of natural causes. Such things happen. But this does not alter the fact that Alexander Perepilichnyy’s death is mighty convenient. Who benefits? Other Russians whose nefarious activities stood to be exposed by his cooperation with Swiss banking investigators. Nor would they be just any other Russians, but state officials, police, tax officers and others implicated in the case of Sergei Magnitsky.
A self-taught lawyer, Magnitsky worked for a law firm representing Hermitage Capital, one of the largest foreign investors in post-Soviet Russia. After Bill Browder, the company’s US-born chief executive was suddenly declared persona non grata, Magnitsky tracked a vast tax scam to which Hermitage had fallen victim. His mistake was to have had the courage to name names – specifically those of certain officials in the Interior Ministry. He was arrested in 2008, held in prison without charge, denied medical treatment for serious stomach illnesses and beaten. He lived only a year.
Browder has made strenuous efforts to secure posthumous justice for his lawyer. One of his main lines of activity has been lobbying the US Congress to pass a Magnitsky Act, which would allow the authorities to refuse visas and freeze the assets of individuals implicated in the case. The notion that one person might lobby the US Congress successfully for something that might be seen as marginal to the US national interest almost beggars belief. Browder’s own persuasive force was surely a factor, along with his deep pockets. But so did some fortunate timing. The measure was passed 10 days ago.
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Death of a Russian supergrass: is it too late for new tests to establish truth of Alexander Perepilichnyy’s death?
Toxicology tests have been ordered by police investigating the sudden death of the Russian supergrass Alexander Perepilichnyy, a wealthy businessman who collapsed outside his luxury Surrey mansion two weeks ago.
The revelation came as the Conservative MP who campaigned for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky – another whistleblower linked to Mr Perepilichnyy – called on the Home Secretary to ensure that every step was taken to uncover whether “foul play” might have been involved.
Mr Perepilichnyy, a seemingly healthy 44-year-old man, was pronounced dead on 10 November outside his home in St George’s Hill, a private estate on the outskirts of Weybridge which is home to dozens of celebrities, footballers, City financiers and Russian tycoons.
The Independent revealed yesterday that the Russian businessman was helping Swiss investigators uncover a series of accounts used by Moscow tax officials who became exceedingly wealthy following a massive tax fraud. Alongside Mr Magnitsky, who originally exposed the fraud in 2008, Mr Perepilichnyy is the fourth person linked to the case to have died in mysterious circumstances.
Although it is possible that the wealthy businessman might have died from natural causes, there is pressure on Surrey Police and local Coroners to ensure a full investigation is carried out, given the role Mr Perepilichnyy played in helping Swiss prosecutors and the growing concern over the murder of Russians on British soil.
This month is the sixth anniversary of the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB spy turned political dissident who was poisoned by tea laced with radioactive polonium. Russian banker German Gorbuntsov narrowly avoided death earlier this year when he was shot by a hitman outside his home in London’s Isle of Dogs.
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Swiss prosecutors say death of Russian whistle blower will not derail huge fraud investigation
Alexander Perepilichnyy, a 44-year-old businessman who left Russia three years ago, was found dead outside his luxury mansion on an exclusive private estate in Surrey two weeks ago.
Prosecutors in Switzerland say the sudden death of a Russian whistle blower who was helping them uncover a money laundering network will not derail their investigation.
Alexander Perepilichnyy, a 44-year-old businessman who left Russia three years ago, was found dead outside his luxury mansion on an exclusive private estate in Surrey two weeks ago.
The Independent revealed today that he was helping investigators uncover a network of Swiss bank accounts that were used by Moscow tax officials who became incredibly wealthy in the immediate aftermath of an enormous fraud that cost Russian tax payers £230m.
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The lawyer and businessman who tried to take on the criminal gang
Sergei Magnitsky, 37, was a lawyer for the US firm Firestone Duncan and represented the London-based hedge fund Hermitage Capital. Hermitage’s founder Bill Browder was once Russia’s biggest foreign investor until he was banned from the country on national security grounds in 2005.
Mr Magnitsky testified against a group of Interior Ministry police officers that he had accused of fraudulently reclaiming $230 million (£144 million) in state taxes paid by Hermitage companies in 2008. He alleged that they had raided the law firm to seize documents relating to the companies, and had then changed the ownership to carry out the largest tax fraud in Russian history.
The same police arrested him a month later and accused him of tax evasion. He complained of repeated torture and beatings to try to force him to withdraw his testimony, while family members were barred from visiting him.
Mr Magnitsky was denied medical treatment for his illnesses and died in pre-trial detention shortly after being beaten in his cell by a group of eight guards as an ambulance waited for more than an hour outside the prison in November 2009.
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
