Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Five Years For $230 Million Tax Fraud

The Windsor Square

Vyacheslav Khlebnikov, one of the perpetrators of the $230 million tax fraud exposed by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky has escaped from any significant sentencing for his role in the crime despite the gravity of the crime and in spite of Khlebnikov’s previous criminal convictions. Instead, he has been given a light sentence by Igor Alisov, Chief Judge of the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow.

According to the court, Khlebnikov was sentenced to 5 years in a colony but faced no financial fines and was not required to return the $230 million in stolen funds or identify where the money had gone. The hearing and sentencing took place in a trial which did not have witnesses and which did not require any evidence, instead relying solely on Khlebnikov’s own testimony. The public was not informed of the sentencing despite formal appeals filed with the Russian General Prosecutors Office by Magnitsky’s colleagues, who insisted on a public and transparent hearing.