Posts Tagged ‘swiss’
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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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A $230 million fraud – and a trail of death that just keeps growing
With its sweeping vistas of the Persian Gulf and central location in the Middle East’s glitziest city, Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah is one of the most exclusive patches of real estate in the world. Created in the shape of a palm tree, the artificial archipelago is home to the cream of a city already bulging with the super wealthy. It’s not the kind of place you might expect a lowly Moscow tax official with a declared family annual income of $38,000 to own a $3 million beach front villa. How could someone with a comparatively low-level civil service job become so wealthy?
That is the question Swiss prosecutors are currently probing as part of a complicated investigation into an alleged Russian money laundering scheme through Swiss bank accounts that began when a whistle blower handed them a damning dossier of evidence at the start of this year. The whistle blower, Alexander Perepilichnyy, died two weeks ago suddenly at the age of 44. But the investigation continues.
The origins of this tale, which sounds like a KGB era thriller but is in fact a depressingly real indictment of modern day Russia, can be traced back to a cold jail cell in Burtyrka Prison in November 2009 where Sergei Magnitsky, a pioneering Moscow lawyer lay dying.
Magnitsky, a charismatic and forensically bright father of two, had been hired by the British based investment fund Hermitage Capital Management to investigate a monumental tax fraud which had been carried out against them. Nine months earlier he pointed the finger of blame at a network of Interior Ministry officials and Russian underworld figures expecting his revelation to be the start of a sustained police investigation into how $230million in Russian taxpayers’ money was squirrelled away in one of Russia’s largest declared frauds.
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Alexander Perepilichnyy: Supergrass who held key to huge Russian fraud is found dead in Surrey
A Russian supergrass who was helping Swiss prosecutors uncover a multi-million pound money laundering scheme used by corrupt Russian officials has died in mysterious circumstances outside his Surrey home, The Independent can reveal.
Alexander Perepilichnyy, a wealthy businessman who sought sanctuary in Britain three years ago after falling out with a powerful crime syndicate, collapsed outside his mansion on a luxury private estate on the outskirts of Weybridge. He was 44-years-old and was in seemingly good health.
The Independent has learned that Mr Perepilichnyy was a key witness against the “Klyuev Group”, an opaque network of corrupt Russian officials and underworld figures implicated in a series of multi-million pound tax frauds and the death in custody of the whistle-blowing Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. He is the fourth person to be linked to the scandal who has died suddenly.
Surrey Police said that a post mortem examination of Mr Perepilichnyy had proved “inconclusive” and further tests were being carried out to try to establish a cause of death. The force said the sudden death was not being treated as suspicious but left open the possibility that it will have to carry out further investigations.
Officers were called to his home on a cul-de-sac shared with seven multi-million pound properties shortly after 5pm on a Saturday two weeks ago but the Russian was declared dead at the scene 30 minutes later. Surrey Police would not confirm suggestions that the Russian had been out running.
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