Whitehall fears ‘another Litvinenko’ as police probe businessman’s death
Ministers were warned six months ago about the activities of Russian officials linked to a “whistleblower” businessman who was mysteriously found dead outside his Surrey mansion.
Police are investigating after the body of Alexander Perepilichny was discovered in the grounds of his home in Weybridge. Mr Perepilichny, 44, had passed vital documents to campaigners fighting to expose a massive tax fraud in Russia that had led to the death of an anti-corruption lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky.
The businessman, who is said to have sought refuge in Britain three years ago after falling out with a crime syndicate, had been helping Swiss prosecutors to investigate a money-laundering scheme involving Russian government tax officials.
He is the fourth person linked to the Magnitsky case to have died in unexplained circumstances. Surrey Police said that a post-mortem examination had been “inconclusive” and that further tests were being carried out before an inquest.
Mr Magnitsky, 37, died in agony in Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow in November 2009 after being held for a year in pre-trial detention and denied medical treatment for serious illnesses. He repeatedly complained that he was tortured in prison to try to force him to withdraw testimony against a group of Interior Ministry police who he had accused of stealing $230 million from businesses owned by Hermitage Capital, a British investment company.
Read More →
London Rules; Russians and Russian money are welcome in Britain, subject to British laws
In late 1991 Russia transformed itself from a country where entrepreneurs were outlaws to one of entrepreneurs without laws. A new statute book was written, but two decades on its enforcement is a joke — or would be if the spillover effect of Russian lawlessness were not so serious.
The death of Alexander Perepilichnyy on a Surrey cul-de-sac outside his rented mansion may turn out to have been from purely natural causes; a fit 44-year-old cut down in his prime by an unexpected heart attack, for instance. Alternatively, it may be linked to his apparent role as a supergrass in a long-running Swiss investigation of money-laundering and tax fraud by a ruthless and extremely well-connected Moscow-based crime syndicate known as the Klyuev Group.
In Russia, the odds against such a death being properly investigated would be vanishingly high. At least in Britain Mr Perepilichnyy’s next of kin will be able to request the results of his post mortem and find out what other tests are being carried out to learn the cause of death. But they may not be enough to close the case.
British police and security officials have so far shown little interest in the evidence Mr Perepilichnyy is said to have been providing to the Swiss; nor in the Klyuev Group’s alleged involvement in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer hired by a well-known British investor to investigate a £140 million tax fraud in Moscow in 2007.
Not so the United States Congress. Earlier this month, after years of lobbying by William Browder, the British chief executive of Hermitage Capital Management, the House of Representatives passed a Bill to freeze the assets of Klyuev Group members and stop them travelling to America. Dominic Raab, the Conservative MP, has tabled a House of Commons motion seeking similar measures by the British Government.
Read More →
Second postmortem on Russian whistleblower found dead in Surrey
Surrey police are carrying out a second postmortem on a Russian whistleblower found dead outside his Surrey home, three years after he fled to the UK to escape a Russian crime syndicate.
Detectives said they were awaiting the results of toxicology tests on 44-year-old Alexander Perepilichnyy. An earlier postmortem was “inconclusive”, they said. The Russian businessman, who had appeared in good health, was found collapsed earlier this month outside his luxury mansion in Weybridge. He was discovered at 5.15pm and pronounced dead 25 minutes later. Witnesses said he was wearing shorts and running shoes. According to his wife, he had been for a run.
Police are so far describing the death as “unexplained”. But Perepilichnyy was a man with enemies. He had accused Russian government officials of complicity in one of the biggest tax scandals in Russian history. The case involved the interior ministry and the alleged theft of $230m (£144m) in taxes paid by the Hermitage investment fund to the Russian government. A Russian lawyer who uncovered the scam, Sergei Magnitsky, was jailed by the authorities and died in prison three years ago.
According to Hermitage, Perepilichnyy was a key witness against one of Russia’s most notorious criminal gangs, the “Klyuev group”. The group’s members include Russian officials in law enforcement, the FSB spy agency, the tax agency and senior judges. Its members are allegedly responsible for a series of multimillion dollar tax frauds, dating back over a decade and including the Magnitsky case. They are said to have siphoned off $800m. Perepilichnyy is the fourth person linked to the group to have died a sudden death.
Read More →
One Hour and Eighteen Minutes
With the wave of oligarchs that continue to flock to London to battle out their grievances, sadly embezzlement scandals and corruption are associations we regularly make with Russia nowadays.
As Russia’s recent accession to the WTO has brought corruption in the country under renewed scrutiny, a play showing at London’s New Diorama Theatre has also shed new light on the lesser-known aspects of the Russian judicial system.
One Hour and Eighteen Minutes, written by Elena Gremina and translated by Noah Birksted-Breen looks at the run-up to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison cell in 2009, having been arrested after he stumbled across a cover-up by state officials to embezzle an estimated $230m (£146m) from the Russian treasury.
The timing of the play couldn’t be more poignant since on Friday 16 November the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, which will impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on 60 Russian officials implicated in Magnitksy’s death.
At the same time the House of Representatives also voted in favour of a law to grant Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR), which will repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, a hangover from Cold War times when the US decided to prevent a number of countries that restricted the emigration of their citizens from enjoying PNTR.
The US House Ways and Means Committee approved both laws in July, but the House of Representatives’ vote was postponed in August for a range of unclear and arguably inexplicable reasons.
Read More →
Magnitsky affair: Mystery over Russian’s death in UK
A Russian businessman linked as a witness to a high-profile corruption scandal has been found dead near his home in Weybridge.
Alexander Perepilichnyy had collapsed on a road early on the evening of 10 November, Surrey Police said.
Police are treating the 44-year-old’s death as unexplained, pending toxicology tests after an inconclusive post-mortem examination.
Reports have connected Perepilichnyy to the Sergei Magnitsky affair.
Magnitsky, a lawyer for London-based Hermitage Capital Management, died on remand in a Moscow prison three years ago after allegedly uncovering a web of corruption involving Russian tax officials.
According to an article in the Independent newspaper on Wednesday, Perepilichnyy had been giving evidence to Swiss investigators about Russian fraud involving Swiss-based bank accounts.
He had sought sanctuary in the UK three years ago after “falling out with a powerful crime syndicate”, the paper said.
A Russian media report described Perepilichnyy as a former business partner of one of the people accused by Magnitsky of fraud.
Read More →
Magnitsky Case: ‘Supergrass’ Drops Dead
A Russian businessman who was helping Swiss authorities investigate a multimillion-pound money laundering scheme in Russia has been found dead outside his Surrey home.
The Swiss prosecutor’s office confirmed 44-year-old Alexander Perepilichnyy had been assisting authorities with their inquiries.
Hermitage Capital was once one of the largest foreign investors in Russia but fell victim to apparent conspiracy by Russian interior ministry officials and tax officers to defraud the Russian tax system.
Corporate seals were taken from Hermitage Capital following a police raid and used apply for a series of tax rebates. The rebates were signed off by courts and tax offices and the money was transferred into a bank which was liquidated shortly afterwards.
The Independent newspaper reported that Mr Perepilichnyy was a key witness against the Klyuev Group, a network of Russian officials and criminals implicated in a series of tax frauds and the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer hired by Hermitage.
Read More →
Key Witness in Magnitsky Case Found Dead in Britain
A key witness in a Swiss investigation into alleged money-laundering by Russian officials suspected in the death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was found dead outside his palatial home in southern England, a media report said Wednesday.
The body of 44-year-old Russian businessman Alexander Perepilichny was discovered two weeks ago, but news of his death came to light only now, The Independent reported. Russian media later reported his last name as Perepelichny.
An initial post-mortem conducted by local police was “inconclusive” and could not immediately establish the cause of Perepilichny’s death, the British daily reported, adding that the exiled businessman is the fourth person linked to the Magnitsky case who died suddenly.
Unconfirmed reports said that Perepilichny, who applied for political asylum in Britain three years ago, had gone jogging prior to collapsing not far from his mansion on the outskirts of Weybridge. Local police said additional tests would be carried out to determine the cause of death.
The Independent reported that Perepilichny was instrumental in the opening of a case against the so-called Kluyev Group, a set of government officials accused by Hermitage Capital lawyer Magnitsky of stealing $230 million in Russian government funds.
Read More →
Russian supergrass dies in mysterious circumstances
A Russian supergrass said to be assisting a Swiss probe into a multi-million pound money laundering scheme involving corrupt Russian officials has died mysteriously outside his home in Surrey, it was reported last night.
Alexander Perepilichnyy, a businessman who had sought refuge in Britain three years ago after falling out with organised criminals, collapsed outside his mansion near Weybridge earlier this month.
The 44-year-old had apparently been in good health. Surrey Police said a post mortem examination has proved “inconclusive” and that further tests had been carried out to try to establish a cause of death.
He was discovered when officers were called to his home on a luxury private estate shared with seven multi-million pound properties shortly after 5pm on a Saturday two weeks ago, and declared dead half an hour later.
Suggestions that he had been out running were not confirmed by Surrey Police. Police said they had been made aware of Mr Perepilichnyy’s link to the Swiss investigation and it “forms part of the inquiry”. The death was being treated as “unexplained”.
Mr Perepilichnyy was a key witness against a network of corrupt Russian officials and crime figures known as the “Kluyev Group”, according to a newspaper.
The network is said to be implicated in a series of multi-million pound tax frauds as well as the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a whistle-blowing Moscow lawyer, The Independent reported.
Read More →
Timeline of the Magnitsky scandal: The fraud that cost two lives
June 2007 – Russian police raid the offices of Hermitage Capital Management, officially to look for information on one of their investors. During the raid seals and corporate certificates are taken into evidence.
October 2007 – Using the seals and certificates, corrupt officials and criminal groups transfer ownership of a number of Hermitage’s Russian subsidiaries. The companies are involved in a string of litigation proceedings in a court in Tartarstan, 500-miles east of Moscow.
December 2007 – Fearing that companies have been stolen from them, Hermitage hires Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitisky to investigate. That same month, the fraudulent owners of the Hermitage subsidiaries apply for and receive a $230m tax refund. Moscow tax offices 24 and 28 sign off on the deal.
July 2008 – After months of painstaking investigation, Magnitsky files a detailed criminal complaint with seven government agencies, naming a string of Russian government officials and criminal figures involved in the scam.
October 2008 – Magnitsky testifies to Russian prosecutors and gives an interview to Businessweek magazine. He is arrested days later and delivered to the very police officers and investigators he accused of carrying out the scam.
November 2009 – After months of interrogation, coercion and deliberately withdrawn medication in prison, Sergei Magnitsky dies.
Read More →
-
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
