Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russian court portrays dead whistleblower as money-hungry schemer

Reuters

Russian prosecutors portrayed a dead anti-corruption lawyer as a money-hungry schemer who used mentally disabled people to avoid paying taxes, in a case that has highlighted human rights concerns following Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency.

The courtroom cage normally reserved for defendants stood empty as prosecutors called witnesses to testify that Sergei Magnitsky, who worked for a law firm hired by Hermitage Capital Management, exploited loopholes for financial gain.

Tax service official Anastasia Gerasimova told the court that William Browder, head of the investment fund, had evaded taxes by using tax breaks for disabled employees.

“They didn’t do any work. They also didn’t receive any payments, just some small fees for what they did in the firm, but at the same time they had a permanent job,” Itar-Tass quoted Gerasimova as saying.

“As a result of these schemes, half a billion roubles (around $16 million)were lost,” she said.

Magnitsky was arrested on tax fraud charges shortly after he leveled similar accusations against Russian state officials in 2008. He died in jail nearly a year later – family and former colleagues say he was mistreated and denied medical care.

His death and posthumous trial have strained Russian-U.S. ties, Washington imposing sanctions on dozens of Russians suspected of a role in his death in December, prompting Moscow to ban Americans from adopting Russian children.

Magnitsky’s mother Natalya has refused to appoint lawyers to represent her late son or attend the trial, which she says is a designed to punish his exposure of schemes in which officials allegedly stole $230 million through fraudulent tax refunds.