Another truth about the Magnitsky case? Magnitsky Sergei When Magnitsky died

Searches in Hermitage

In 2007, the Russian branch of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management (founded by William Browder) and the consulting company that served it, Firestone Duncan (for which Sergei Magnitsky worked as an auditor), were searched on suspicion of the fund creating a tax evasion scheme through a network of subsidiaries. During the searches, documents, computer data and seals of three Russian organizations of the Browder Foundation were seized. Immediately after the searches, the fund sold all its Russian assets.

According to investigators, the fund's subsidiaries illegally purchased shares of strategic Russian enterprises, including Gazprom, Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft. In turn, representatives of Hermitage announced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out a raider seizure of three of its subsidiaries, using seals and documents seized during the search.

Magnitsky exposed corruption in law enforcement agencies

After the 2007 searches, Magnitsky launched an independent investigation to protect the interests of the investment fund and found that 5.4 billion rubles in taxes paid by the seized Hermitage subsidiaries were seized from the Russian treasury by criminals as “overpaid.” Magnitsky gave testimony in which he said that law enforcement officers illegally took possession of Hermitage’s movable property.

Magnitsky arrested in the Hermitage case

Despite this, in 2008, Browder and the manager of the Russian branch of Hermitage, Ivan Cherkasov, were charged in absentia with tax evasion. They were put on the international wanted list. On November 27, 2008, Magnitsky was arrested in connection with the Hermitage case. He was accused of assisting the foundation in evading taxes on a particularly large scale. Magnitsky was taken into custody as a preventive measure.

Magnitsky started having health problems

Magnitsky was placed in pre-trial detention center No. 5, where over the course of five months he was transferred from one cell to another several times. In April 2009, he was transferred to the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. In July of the same year, he began to have health problems - he was diagnosed with calculous cholecystitis, and doctors also discovered stones in his gall bladder. At the end of July, Magnitsky was transferred to the Butyrsky pre-trial detention center, where his condition worsened further, including due to the lack of a hospital at the pre-trial detention center.

Magnitsky spoke about unbearable conditions of detention

During his imprisonment, Magnitsky and his lawyers sent more than 450 complaints about poor conditions of detention and lack of proper medical care, in particular, the lawyer complained that he was not given the medicine that his mother brought him, etc. On October 3, 2009, Magnitsky filed a complaint that, with the knowledge of the investigation, unbearable conditions of detention were being created for him, reiterating the fraudulent “tax refund” scheme and naming the names of the police officers involved. Magnitsky called the case against him “revenge” by law enforcement agencies for evidence of corruption he found. He also said that the investigation offered him a deal: release or probation for testifying against Browder.

Magnitsky died in a hospital at a pre-trial detention center

On November 13, 2009, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow refused to change Magnitsky’s preventive measure, leaving him in a pre-trial detention center. At the same time, as it turned out later, the court did not take into account Magnitsky’s complaints about poor health. On November 16, the lawyer’s condition worsened. At the end of the day, he was taken to the hospital at the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, where he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. However, citing Magnitsky’s inappropriate behavior, the doctors called psychiatrists for him, who chained the lawyer to a chair. He did not undergo urgent surgery, and already at 21:50 doctors certified death from a rupture of the pancreas as a result of pancreatic necrosis. However, investigators later stated that Magnitsky died of a heart attack.

An investigation into Magnitsky's death has begun

On November 24, 2009, the chairman of the council for promoting the development of civil society institutions and human rights, Ella Pamfilova, at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, asked to look into the circumstances of the lawyer’s death. On December 28, 2009, the Public Commission for Monitoring Ensuring the Rights of Prisoners published a report concluding that the lawyer’s death was caused by “the creation of inhumane, degrading conditions of detention, comparable, in essence, to torture.” The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office opened criminal cases under articles of “failure to provide assistance to a patient” and “negligence.” Based on the results of an internal investigation, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexander Reimer, dismissed on December 11, 2009 the head of the Moscow department of the FSIN, Vladimir Davydov, and the head of the Butyrsky detention center, Vadim Magomedov.

The main defendants in the Magnitsky case

Pavel Karpov, bformer investigator of the Main Investigation Department of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate (pictured)

William Browder and Jamison Firestone claim that Karpov is one of the members of a group of security officials who stole more than 5 billion rubles from the Russian budget. This theft allegedly involved documents and seals seized during a search of Firestone Duncan as part of a tax evasion investigation in which Browder is a defendant. It is with the attempts of Sergei Magnitsky to expose this theft in the fund that the arrest of the auditor, who later died in a pre-trial detention center, is associated. In addition, Firestone claims that during the time that Karpov was investigating the case against Magnitsky, he acquired property worth $1.5 million at an official salary of $533 per month.

Karpov was included in the infamous “Magnitsky list”, as a result of which he was banned from entering the United States. In the list of officials involved in corruption and the death of Sergei Magnitsky, compiled by the US Helsinki Commission, he is listed at number 21.

In the summer of 2012, Karpov resigned from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and filed a lawsuit in the High Court of London against Firestone, who was one of the managers of the Firestone Duncan company, where Sergei Magnitsky worked. The lieutenant colonel is demanding compensation for damage caused to him by what he claims are “unsubstantiated allegations” published on the Internet.

Artyom Kuznetsov, bFormer employee of the Department for Combating Tax Crimes of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate

Karpov’s partner, police lieutenant colonel Artem Kuznetsov, is accused by the Hermitage Foundation of fabricating a case against Magnitsky and playing a key role in stealing money from the Russian budget. Firestone claims that over the past 3 years, the Kuznetsov family has spent about $3 million on the purchase of movable and immovable property, despite the fact that Kuznetsov’s salary was only $850 in ruble equivalent.

Victor Grin, DDeputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation

Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin was included in the scandalous “Magnitsky list” compiled by the US authorities. At the same time, it was indicated that Grin canceled the investigation into the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs employees who exposed Magnitsky for involvement in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles of budget funds, and authorized the criminal prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky.

Olga Stepanova,former head of the capital's tax inspectorate No. 28 of the Federal Tax Service of Moscow

Representatives of Hermitage claim that tax inspector Stepanova in 2007 approved the return from the state budget of funds transferred in the form of taxes by Hermitage fund companies, which he allegedly overpaid. Subsequently, the money was transferred to dummy bank accounts, and some of it ended up in the own accounts of the organizers of the financial fraud in a Swiss bank. In particular, according to the fund, a month later, more than $10 million was transferred to accounts at Credit Suisse belonging to companies founded by Stepanova’s husband. Magnitsky, as Hermitage reports, uncovered this scam and reported it to Russian investigative authorities. But in the end he himself was arrested. In April 2011, the Swiss prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against Stepanova for money laundering through Swiss banks.

Dmitry Klyuev, bRussian entrepreneur, former owner of the Universal Savings Bank

Investor Bill Browder and his Hermitage fund accuse Klyuev of using Hermitage firms to steal 5.4 billion rubles from the Russian state, and the lawyer who uncovered the criminal scheme, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and tortured in prison. According to the foundation, Klyuev was at the center of an “organized criminal group” as the owner of the Universal Savings Bank. It was into the UBS accounts that taxes were transferred from the budget, which were returned to the companies stolen from Hermitage, totaling 5.4 billion rubles.

After the accusations brought against him, Klyuev gave an interview to Vedomosti, in which he denied all the accusations against him, expressing the idea that Magnitsky’s death was beneficial specifically to the Hermitage Foundation and its founder and CEO William Browder. In his opinion, “he who commits murder never steals money.”

Dmitry Kratov, uhKS-Deputy Head of the Butyrka Detention Center

Kratov is accused of negligence in connection with the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. In September 2012, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow began considering the case against Kratov. According to the prosecution, Kratov did not organize diagnostic and preventive measures for Magnitsky, did not control their implementation, although he had access to information about his state of health and was obliged to do his job. The prosecutor's office believes that Kratov showed “negligence” and a “negligent attitude to service,” which led to Magnitsky’s death.

Larisa Litvinova, nHead of the medical department of the Butyrka pre-trial detention center

Litvinova, who held the position of laboratory doctor at Butyrka in 2009, was charged with committing a crime under the article “causing death by negligence due to improper performance by a person of his professional duties.” Litvinova was Magnitsky’s attending physician in the pre-trial detention center. On October 7, 2009, when Magnitsky complained of acute pain in the abdomen, she misdiagnosed him and discharged the lawyer from the hospital, which worsened his condition and subsequently led to death. In April 2012, the Investigative Committee stopped the criminal prosecution of doctor Larisa Litvinova due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

60 Russian officials are banned from entering the United States

In April 2010, the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, headed by Senator Benjamin Cardin, sent a letter to the US State Department asking that 60 Russian judges and security officials involved in the death of Magnitsky be banned from entering the country. In May 2010, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee supported Cardin's initiative and approved the proposal of the Commission he headed.

The “Magnitsky Act” has been introduced into the US Congress

In September 2010, a bill was introduced into the US Congress that would have prohibited all individuals on the Magnitsky List from entering the United States and conducting financial transactions in this country. In December of the same year, the European Parliament approved a resolution recommending that European governments impose visa and financial sanctions against Russian officials mentioned in the list. In July 2012, a similar resolution was adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the “Magnitsky Act” is adopted in the United States, Russia will take retaliatory measures by introducing restrictions on entry into Russia for a number of Americans.

The trial into the death of Magnitsky has begun in Moscow.

In September 2012, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow began to consider the case against the former deputy head of the Butyrka pretrial detention center, Dmitry Kratov (pictured). Kratov is accused of negligence.

According to the prosecution, Kratov did not organize diagnostic and preventive measures for Magnitsky, did not control their implementation, although he had access to information about his state of health and was obliged to do his job. The prosecutor's office believes that Kratov showed “negligence” and a “negligent attitude to service,” which led to Magnitsky’s death.

According to the prosecution, on October 7, 2009, Magnitsky complained of acute pain in the abdomen and intercostal pain. Kratov entrusted his treatment to doctor Litvinova, who was trained as a hygienist and epidemiologist and did not have the professional skills to provide medical care to Magnitsky. As a result, Litvinova made an incorrect diagnosis, did not prescribe the necessary procedures, and discharged Magnitsky from the hospital.

At the same time, Kratov does not admit his guilt and believes that the charges brought against him are unfounded. According to him, at that time he had only 17 medical workers at his disposal and charges should be brought against the doctors of the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, where Magnitsky received assistance.

Magnitsky Act combined with repeal of Jackson-Vanik Amendment

On November 14, 2012, the Rules Committee of the US House of Representatives recommended the adoption of a combined bill that would link the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the imposition of sanctions against Russian officials on the Magnitsky list. Voting on the document will take place on Thursday, November 15. If the proposal is approved, the combined bill will be voted on by the House of Representatives on Friday, November 16th.

Managing partner of the auditing company Firestone Duncan, tax and legal consultant of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management Sergei Magnitsky by operatives of the tax crimes department of the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate on November 24, 2008. Soon, the Investigative Committee (IC) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (now the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation) charged Magnitsky with complicity in tax evasion from the organization as part of the Hermitage criminal case.

Hermitage Capital Management is a British investment fund specializing in the Russian market. In the early 2000s, it was one of the largest in the Russian investment market. Hermitage was one of the clients of Firestone Duncan, which provides legal services in the areas of taxes, auditing and accounting.

Russian law enforcement agencies. In the summer of 2007, investigators conducted the first searches at Hermitage Capital and related structures. The head of the fund, William Browder, claimed that Hermitage Capital had uncovered the corruption scam of the century in Russia - 5.4 billion rubles in taxes paid by the fund were stolen by raiders.

The Prosecutor General's Office reported that, according to preliminary data, the death of the 37-year-old lawyer was caused by cardiovascular failure. However, Magnitsky’s lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov stated that his client had “toxicological shock and pancreatic necrosis,” and repeated requests for a medical examination to determine whether the lawyer could be in a pre-trial detention center for health reasons remained unanswered. The Investigative Committee claimed that Magnitsky never complained about his health.

In a press release from the Hermitage Capital Management fund, distributed after the death of the lawyer, it was alleged that since 2007 Sergei Magnitsky in connection with the commission of fraudulent acts against them, in which a number of corrupt officials were involved.

“During the investigation of the fraud, Sergei Magnitsky gave incriminating testimony about the involvement of a number of law enforcement officers in carrying out fraud related to the theft of the fund’s companies, which subsequently led to the theft of budget funds in the amount of 5.4 billion rubles. Shortly after this, Sergei Magnitsky was arrested by a group of technical employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The death of the lawyer caused a great public outcry.

Ella Pamfilova, Chairman of the Council for Promoting the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, expressed concern over the circumstances of this tragedy on behalf of human rights defenders.

On November 24, it became known that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had asked Yuri Chaika and Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the death of Sergei Magnitsky.

On the same day, the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office (SKP) reported that the investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow on November 16 in the pre-trial detention center of the lawyer-auditor of the Hermitage Capital investment fund, Sergei Magnitsky. A criminal case was initiated on the grounds of crimes provided for in Part 2 of Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (failure to provide assistance to a patient) and Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (negligence).

The Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights also conducted its own investigation into this case, on behalf of President Medvedev.

On July 6, the Presidential Council for Human Rights presented the head of state with its interim report on the Magnitsky case. The Council's interim conclusion states that Sergei Magnitsky was not provided with medical assistance in the pre-trial detention center, and his death...

At the same time, according to human rights activists, the lawyer’s case was investigated by an illegal investigative team - the investigation involved people whom Magnitsky accused of involvement in the crime. In addition, the Presidential Council found procedural violations when Magnitsky was taken into custody.

On July 18, it became known that the Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation on the death of Sergei Magnitsky in pre-trial detention center No. 2 (Butyrka) Larisa Litvinova and Dmitry Kratov.

The actions of Litvinova, who was Magnitsky’s attending physician, show signs of a crime under Part 2 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing death by negligence due to improper performance by a person of his professional duties). The former deputy head of the pre-trial detention center and Litvinova's immediate superior, Dmitry Kratov, is suspected of negligence resulting in the death of a person through negligence (Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The criminal prosecution of Magnitsky was initially terminated by the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to non-rehabilitative circumstances - in connection with the death of the accused.

In August 2011, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in connection with the decision of the Constitutional Court of July 14, 2011. According to the precedent decision, investigations and courts can no longer terminate criminal cases in connection with the death of suspects and accused without the consent of their relatives.

As Magnitsky investigators explained in the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, in order to clarify their opinion, for this purpose the period of investigation in this criminal case will be extended.

On November 28, it became known that the Hermitage Capital investment fund "Torture and murder of Magnitsky. Hiding the truth by government agencies." The report submitted to the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation contains documents indicating the refusal by all government departments of Sergei Magnitsky’s complaints during the year of his detention, and the subsequent concealment of these complaints and the role of these departments in depriving him of freedom, health and life.

According to the foundation, the report is based on official documents, court materials and public statements, and provides the full texts of Sergei Magnitsky's complaints about the failure to provide medical care and the refusals of government authorities to respond to his complaints.

The report on the Magnitsky case was sent to members of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, to the parliaments of the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The trial of the former deputy head of the Butyrka pre-trial detention center, where Magnitsky spent part of the arrest, Dmitry Kratov, continues. A criminal case against the former laboratory doctor of the Butyrka pre-trial detention center Litvinova in connection with changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the statute of limitations for the article incriminated against the doctor was reduced.

At the beginning of November 2012, it became known that the investigation into the criminal case of Sergei Magnitsky had been completed for approval of the indictment.

The investigation of this criminal case was carried out by the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Magnitsky case is being closely monitored by the US and EU authorities.

In October 2010, a bill was introduced into the US Congress to ban entry into the country and impose economic sanctions on a number of Russian officials involved in the lawyer’s case.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the government's proposal "goes beyond basic standards of decency" and jeopardizes cooperation between the security forces of the two countries.

Despite the harsh reaction of the Russian Federation, in April 2011 the list of persons against whom the United States proposed to impose sanctions was expanded.

In December 2010, members of the European Parliament approved a recommendation to EU members to freeze the assets of 60 Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of a lawyer.

In July 2011, the US State Department imposed visa sanctions against Russian officials allegedly involved in the Magnitsky case. The agency declined to name the people whose visas were denied. According to the Washington Post, .

The author of the bill on the “Magnitsky list” approved in the US Senate is Benjamin Cardin. His bill largely mirrors the House-passed bill sponsored by James McGovern. However, the House bill deals exclusively with Russia, while the Senate bill .

On July 18, the US Senate merged these two bills into one. The House of Representatives slowed down consideration of the issue due to the position of the Republicans and the approaching presidential and parliamentary elections.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti

Myth one: Sergei Magnitsky - lawyer

Browder’s standard information “jeans”, actively published in recent years in Russian and foreign media, looks like this:

“Hermitage hired the Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to investigate the scam and he publicly named a number of key Interior Ministry officials who he believed were involved. Days after going public he was arrested by the same men he had accused and was held in prison for a year. He died in November 2009 after being refused vital medication following months of increasingly brutal treatment.” (British Independent)

In such materials, Magnitsky constantly appears as a lawyer. This has become such a generally accepted statement that even state Russian media are called Magnitsky’s lawyer: Channel One, Rossiya-1 and RIA Novosti. Moreover, most publications claim that Magnitsky was hired by Hermitage directly to “investigate” the theft of several subsidiaries. All this is a lie. But the second part of this lie will be discussed below, but first, let’s look at Magnitsky’s sphere of activity.

So here it is. Sergei Magnitsky is not a lawyer and never has been. He graduated from the Academy. Plekhanov with a degree in Finance and Credit, had an auditor’s certificate and worked as an accountant or auditor all his life. He had never worked as a lawyer and did not have the appropriate qualifications. The evidence is presented below, click to enlarge:

Apparently, the version about the “lawyer” was planted by Browder’s PR people solely in order to give additional weight to the claim that Magnitsky allegedly “identified and exposed” a criminal scheme through which several billion rubles were stolen from the budget. It must be admitted that the throw-in turned out to be extremely effective.

Myth two: Magnitsky wrote a statement to the Russian authorities, after which a case was opened for theft of funds from the budget

The truth is that Magnitsky testified to the investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a witness in an already opened case, the applicant in which was back in April 2008 the Zits-chairman Starova R.M., to whom the raiders “wrote off” Ryland LLC, which had already done its job ", "Swallowtail" and "Parfenion" and who "guessed" (perhaps under pressure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs) that someone had stolen 5.4 billion from the budget. I came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and reported this sincerely. This happened much earlier than Magnitsky gave any testimony in criminal cases.

It is noteworthy that back on December 7, 2007, lawyer Khairetdinov, who worked for Hermitage, in his complaint against the actions of investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the framework of a criminal case on tax crimes of Cameo LLC, wrote that the seized documents of companies are used to steal funds, without any explaining what kind of theft we are talking about:

So what's next? Surprisingly, nothing. On December 13, Hermitage executive director Paul Wrench submits a statement to the Investigative Committee about the theft of three fund companies, in which there is not a word about the theft of any billions. No one. Why is a mystery, like so many things in the entire “Magnitsky case.”

The story of the theft of money arises again only a few months later and again in a very strange form. May 28, 2008 Paul Wrench writes a letter to the Anti-Corruption Council under the President of the Russian Federation, instead of writing an official statement to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Investigative Committee:

Hermitage made an official statement to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation only on July 23, 2008.

As we can see, Magnitsky does not figure at all in all these cases. The only statement he wrote was a handwritten document written by him in a pre-trial detention center a few days before his death and repeating word for word what Rench had already written a year and a half ago. Of course, nothing new was reported there at that time, and Magnitsky never conducted any independent investigation. By the way, during interrogations he also did not tell the investigators anything interesting, but used Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which allows him not to testify against himself.

Myth three: Browder is an example of an honest foreign businessman facing the Russian corrupt state machine

A few striking examples from Hermitage business practices, otherwise called greenmail:

In 2001, Hermitage filed 12 lawsuits against Sberbank, challenging an already registered additional issue. Quote: The plaintiff demanded through the arbitration court to cancel the registration of the issue and the decision of the supervisory board, referring to the Law “On Joint-Stock Companies”. According to Art. 81 of the law, a member of the supervisory board of a company is considered interested in completing a transaction if he holds a position in the management bodies of one of the parties to this transaction. And according to Art. 83, a decision on an interested party transaction, if more than 2 percent of voting shares are placed, is made at a general meeting of shareholders “by a majority vote of shareholders not interested in the transaction.” Such interested parties, according to the plaintiffs, were the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and its employees, members of the supervisory board of Sberbank. Formally using the requirements of the law, representatives of the Hermitage company “did not notice” that at the time of making the decision to place shares by open subscription, it was not known about the Central Bank’s intention to participate in the repurchase and about any obligations of Sberbank to sell these shares to the Central Bank, i.e. there were no violations of the law. But the very fact of challenging the issue in court could scare off potential buyers of new shares. It is not difficult to guess that this was precisely the goal that Browder pursued. All claims were rejected, but the actions of the fund significantly influenced the course of the issue.

Hermitage also filed a lawsuit against Surgutneftegaz, demanding the redemption of shares on the balance sheet of subsidiaries. Under Russian law, companies are prohibited from owning their own shares, but there is no such prohibition for subsidiaries. Hermitage disputed this, trying to prove that the company and its subsidiaries are one and the same, and, therefore, Surgutneftegaz is obliged to redeem these shares. The claim was also rejected.

By 2004, Hermitage Capital was the largest investment fund in Russia - it managed $3.5 billion, representing the interests of more than 6,000 investors. Its success is also undeniable - the fund showed an average annual return of 34.5%, twice as fast as the RTS index. And this takes into account the losses from the 1998 crisis. Browder himself also did not lose money - according to various estimates, he earned about $120 million. Over the years, the fund has gained enormous influence - it took part in changing the reform plans of RAO UES, the removal of the all-powerful Rem Vyakhirev from the post of chairman of Gazprom and prevented the consolidation of shares of Rosneft subsidiaries .

In 2004 alone, 8 cases were brought against fund structures in Kalmykia on charges of tax evasion, but Browder’s lawyers managed to hush them up. In November 2005, upon arriving at the airport, Browder discovered that his visa had been canceled and he was denied entry into Russia. Apparently hoping to resolve the issue amicably, he did not talk about it for three months. Moreover, in December, Browder gave an extensive interview to CNBC in which he expressed support for Russia’s course and even the arrest of Khodorkovsky. But this time nothing helped Browder hush up the story of tax evasion through the “Kalmyk scheme”, which was taken up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs investigators.

Browder's Hermitage Capital did not directly own assets in Russia. This was due to the fact that until 2006, the legislation of the Russian Federation prohibited foreigners from directly owning shares of OAO Gazprom, in order to consolidate the stake in the systemically important Russian company and prevent its “erosion” to the West. In this regard, prices on the “closed” Russian market were more than attractive, and their difference in price with American depositary receipts freely traded on the market reached 100 times or more. As one might guess, this is why the main target of Browder’s activities in Russia at a certain stage became OJSC Gazprom, and not through the “white” scheme with expensive receipts, but through the “black” scheme with the domestic Russian stock market. To circumvent the existing ban, together with the auditing company Firestone Duncan JSC, a scheme of “gray” share ownership was developed, which looked something like this:

In this way, “cross-ownership” of shares in companies was obtained, while the share of the foreign parent company at first glance did not exceed 49%, which formally complied with the law. There were 11 resident companies in total. The profits were large and so were the taxes. In order to work legally and without questions from the state, it was necessary to pay 24% on profits and another 15% when withdrawing funds to parent foreign companies. Browder and Magnitsky managed to “tighten up” the scheme to a much smaller size - about 5.5% of profits and only 5% when withdrawing funds to foreign companies (using an agreement with Cyprus, the requirements of which were also not met). To do this, Browder registered several companies in Kalmykia in 2001, which provided income tax benefits for the employment of disabled people. On this Youtube channel-interrogations of “employees” hired by Browder as financial analysts. Everyone can assess the degree of their “qualification” for themselves. By the way, one of the requirements of the offshore zone was investment in Kalmykia, which the fund, of course, did not bother itself with either. Using this scheme, about 7% of Gazprom shares were consolidated in resident companies, which, after the ban on foreign ownership of shares was lifted, were transferred through sale to Cypriot companies.

Both Browder and Magnitsky were well aware that their tax evasion scheme violated the laws of the Russian Federation. Below is an excerpt from the interrogation protocol of one of the founders of Firestone Duncan, Ponomarev:

“Moreover, around 1996. at meetings and negotiations held in the office of Firestone Duncan LLC, which was attended by Browder W.F., Dave E., as well as Magnitsky S.L., when tax evasion schemes similar to the above were discussed, Magnitsky S.L. explained both to me and to clients Browder W.F. Dave E. that this scheme formally complies with Russian legislation, but in fact is criminal and does not comply with Russian legislation, since disabled people do not take real part in the work of the company, many of them have many work books from their “main” places of work, as well as Cypriot offshore companies, which are managed from Russia, are not entitled to the tax benefits specified in the agreement between Russia and the Republic of Cyprus, since they are actually managed from one office located in Moscow. However, as far as I know, in the future the above tax evasion scheme was used in the activities of clients (companies registered in the Russian Federation, the accounting and tax records of which were carried out by Firestone Dunken CJSC, Firestone Dunken Audit CJSC, a branch of Firestone Duncan, whose leaders were Sandakov A.A., Firestone, Magnitsky S.L.) Moscow representative office of the company "Hermitage Capital Management Limited headed by Browder W.F."

Myth four: Magnitsky had nothing to do with Browder’s business and black tax schemes

In the first myth, I pointed out that Browder’s custom publications almost always “forget” that before 2008, Magnitsky had already worked for Browder for a long time. Moreover, he was directly related to the creation and use of black tax schemes. As follows from his own work record, Magnitsky worked as a manager in the accounting department of Firestone Duncan until 2001, then he was the general director (sic chairman) of many shell companies in Kalmykia, and in 2003. was again promoted and hired as an accountant (auditor) at Firestone Duncan.

It was Magnitsky who hired people from the “Magnitsky list” (initially, this did not even mean corrupt officials, but Kalmyk disabled people who were used by Browder to evade taxes). Below is the work book of one of the disabled people who was fictitiously hired to work at one of the Hermitage companies to evade taxes. The picture shows whose signatures on the job application are:

Of course, there were many such disabled “financiers”. Or you can look at a sample tax return of Browder’s companies, which were compiled by S. Magnitsky, evading taxes, using false work books of Kalmyk disabled people. At first, Magnitsky and Browder hired disabled veterans of Afghanistan, paying them 500 rubles a month, but after the “Afghans” in Kalmykia ended, they began to attract such prominent representatives of the financial sector: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF041QRf0M0

Myth five: Magnitsky was sent to a pre-trial detention center due to lawlessness

Magnitsky had the status of a suspect in criminal cases initiated in Kalmykia back in 2004. These cases were repeatedly suspended in Kalmykia, but in the winter of 2008. were transferred to Moscow for investigation by investigator Silchenko. Magnitsky’s status as a suspect prohibited him from leaving Moscow, but Magnitsky booked tickets to Kyiv and had his photo taken in a photo studio, where he was asked: “What kind of photographs does he need?” Magnitsky replied: “Photos for visa purposes.” By the way, here is this photo:

Magnitsky was a key structure for the investigation - there was strong evidence that he was the creator of the tax evasion scheme, and his testimony could link Browder to it as the main customer. By the time Magnitsky was arrested, all the other employees had already moved to London, and he himself, despite signing a written undertaking not to leave, applied for a British visa and booked tickets to Kyiv. That is why the decision was made to take him into custody.

Myth six: There is no other logical explanation for the story of the theft of budget money other than the version voiced by Browder

This is wrong. Apparently, and this is clearly hinted at by the story with Renaissance Capital, the whole story with the “refund of income tax” (and not VAT, which is also a common myth) was at least initially driven by the Hermitage managers themselves, including Browder and Magnitsky. Using this scheme, they wanted to compensate for all the tax costs that they incurred when transferring their Gazprom shares to Cypriot structures. Judge for yourself:

In 2006, Hermitage, apparently hoping to settle the issue amicably with the Russian authorities, paid taxes at the full rate. But searches by Interior Ministry investigators showed that there was little hope for resolving the conflict. At the same time, there was regret about the taxes paid in vain. In fact, the scheme that was used to steal money from the budget was not isolated. A year earlier, structures that previously belonged to another foreign fund, Renaissance Capital, returned 2.9 billion rubles in taxes from the budget. The details of the scheme coincide down to the smallest detail - the same tax authorities were used, and even the same lawyer. What is interesting is that Kuznetsov and Karpov did not figure in this crime, and Renaissance Capital did not complain at all about the seizure of its structures, which, to put it mildly, leads to suspicion.

According to investigators, Hermitage representatives contacted a certain Oktay Gasanov, who was apparently an acquaintance of Magnitsky. He contacted a certain Semyon Korobeinikov, who specialized in this kind of return of money from the budget. Mr. Korobeinikov is a man of difficult fate, who emigrated from Odessa to Israel, and then to Hungary, repeating the path of another Semyon - Mogilevich. With whom, by the way, he was familiar and even did business. In the early 2000s, Korobeinikov acquired the Universal Savings Bank and began to engage in dubious transactions in the financial sector. To implement this scheme, Hermitage required the seized documents of three companies, but was unable to obtain them. But Korobeinikov found a way out - the offshore structures of the fund, which are the founders of these three companies, sold their shares to Korobeinikov’s company - Pluton LLC. All three companies were re-registered under three nominee directors: Markelov, Kurochkin and Khlebnikov, using forged documents. Later, Markelov and Khlebnikov testified that they received some of the documents from Gasanov, and some from Magnitsky. Three companies were transferred to tax inspectorates No. 25 and No. 28 in Moscow, where Korobeinikov had established contacts.

At the same time, claims were filed against these companies, alleging that the defendants did not fulfill their obligations under previously concluded contracts, which caused losses to the plaintiffs in the amount of 30.5 billion rubles. The claims were readily lost, which provided grounds for a refund of previously paid taxes. Magnitsky prepared tax returns, but made it a condition that the money be returned to company accounts opened with HSBC Bank. But then the unexpected happened - on October 1, 2007, Oktay Gasanov, who was the link between Hermitage and Korobeinikov, died of a heart attack. And the latter, knowing about the difficulties of the fund in Russia, decided to appropriate the funds for himself. He urgently opened accounts for companies in controlled banks and submitted applications for a refund. In December, the money was transferred, and soon disappeared after more than 10 thousand bank transactions.

And in the fall of 2008, Korobeinikov himself died, falling from the balcony of a country house. A little earlier, one of the Zits-chairmen, Kurochkin, died from vodka poisoning (there are enough such strange deaths in this case, to put it mildly), his accomplices Khlebnikov and Markelov went to prison for five years. As for Magnitsky, if at first he was interrogated as a defendant in a tax evasion case, then soon he was interrogated about the circumstances of his acquaintance with Gasanov. In addition, Magnitsky confirmed during interrogation that he made duplicates of the seals of three companies.

The myths surrounding the “Magnitsky case” are not limited to these stories. You can also write separately about “torture in a pre-trial detention center” (which, apparently, did not happen, at least in its physical embodiment, although the conditions there are like hell), investigator Karpov, who was blamed for all the dogs, although he is involved in this case The relationship is generally tangential, and about much more. Perhaps later, when there is time, I will summarize this information. I just want to note that it is not myths in the “Magnitsky case” that it is obvious that Magnitsky died in a pre-trial detention center, although he should not have died there, and that money from the Russian budget was stolen through the tax service (although far from “for one day”, which is also a propaganda myth). The investigation's version that the tax authorities were simply misled looks, in my opinion, doubtful.

So, finding out the truth about who and how gave permission to reimburse such a large sum should obviously be no less a priority for law enforcement agencies than exposing the crimes of the international swindler Browder. By the way, at the time of the events the tax service was still under the close control of Serdyukov’s people.

Magnitsky Sergei Leonidovich(born April 8, 1972, Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, USSR - died November 16, 2009, Moscow, Russian Federation) - Russian accountant and auditor, employee of the consulting company Firestone Duncan. The personality of Sergei Magnitsky and his tragic death gained international fame in connection with the so-called Hermitage Capital case.

Sergei Magnitsky graduated from the Russian Academy of Sciences named after G.V. Plekhanov with a degree in finance and credit in 1993. Since 1995, he worked as an auditor in the consulting company Firestone Duncan (JSC Firestone Duncan), which was founded two years earlier by American lawyers Jamison Firestone and Terry Duncan and was engaged in tax consulting and auditing. Magnitsky was the head of the tax and audit department at Firestone Duncan, which provided legal services, including to the Hermitage Capital Management fund.

According to the foundation, the prosecution of Magnitsky was connected with an attempt by corrupt structures to prevent the exposure of the crimes they committed. According to Novaya Gazeta, the criminal scheme that Magnitsky tried to expose was applied not only to companies owned by the Hermitage Capital Management fund.

On November 24, 2008, Sergei Magnitsky was detained on charges of tax evasion. Since his arrest, Magnitsky has been interrogated a total of four or five times. No other investigative actions were carried out with him. Magnitsky himself called himself a hostage. In court he said: " Your Honor, I was essentially taken hostage. Few people are interested in my person; everyone is interested in the person of the head of Hermitage" Magnitsky refused to plead guilty.

On July 14, 2009, in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, after an ultrasound examination, Magnitsky was diagnosed with “calculous cholecystitis” (gallbladder stones) and prescribed planned treatment with repeated examination. On July 25, Magnitsky was transferred to Butyrskaya prison, as it was explained to his lawyers, due to renovations at Matrosskaya Tishina. On November 16, 2009, after 11 months of pre-trial detention, Magnitsky died in the hospital of the pre-trial detention center. Magnitsky's death caused significant international resonance and became the reason for the passage of a law in the United States introducing sanctions against Russian officials allegedly involved in his death.

In 2010, the international anti-corruption non-governmental organization Transparency International posthumously awarded Sergei Magnitsky the Integrity Award.

4 years ago, the auditor of the Hermitage Capital fund, Sergei Magnitsky, who was 37 years old, died in the hospital of the Moscow pre-trial detention center "Matrosskaya Tishina". Immediately after the death of the lawyer, the cause of his death was said to be toxic shock and acute heart failure; in the “diagnosis” column, acute pancreatitis and closed craniocerebral injury were indicated. The injury information on the death report later disappeared. Human rights activists and lawyers believe that Magnitsky was beaten before his death and did not provide him with the necessary medical care. This summer, Magnitsky was found guilty of tax evasion posthumously. On the eve of the anniversary of Magnitsky's death, parliamentarians from 21 countries formed the group "Justice for Sergei Magnitsky."

The death of Sergei Magnitsky, who was accused of tax crimes, caused a wide resonance. His colleagues from the Hermitage Capital fund and the audit company Firestone Duncan argued that Magnitsky was kept in a pre-trial detention center as a hostage in order to obtain testimony against the head of the fund, William Browder. Magnitsky, as an auditor for Hermitage Capital, investigated schemes for theft of budget funds in which corrupt Russian officials were involved. In particular, he was able to find out that since 2007, a number of law enforcement officers, thanks to a fraudulent scheme they developed, have stolen several fund campaigns and budget funds in the amount of 5.4 billion rubles. These same people subsequently arrested Magnitsky.

Immediately after Magnitsky’s death, human rights activists conducted their own investigation into its circumstances. Human rights activist Valery Borshchev already expressed concern that Magnitsky was beaten before his death.
Immediately after Magnitsky’s death, then-President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov to investigate the causes of the lawyer’s death in the pre-trial detention center. Medvedev dismissed several high-ranking officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service, but no one suffered real punishment for the death of Magnitsky.

Four years after the death of Sergei Magnitsky, his family insists that those responsible for his death must be punished. Sergei’s uncle Timur Huseynov spoke about this on Radio Liberty.

Previously, the Investigative Committee initiated several criminal cases against ex-employees of the Butyrka pre-trial detention center regarding the death of Magnitsky. The former attending physician, lawyer Larisa Litvinova, was suspected of “causing death by negligence,” and the ex-deputy head of the pre-trial detention center, Dmitry Kratov, was suspected of “negligence due to failure to fulfill professional duties.” The case against Litvinova was dismissed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations; in December 2012, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow acquitted Dmitry Kratov.

In 2010, at the instigation of the deceased’s colleagues, the so-called “Magnitsky list” was compiled, which included more than 60 officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Federal Tax Service, the Arbitration Court, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Federal Penitentiary Service, who, according to employees of the Hermitage Capital fund, were involved in the theft of the fund’s funds .

At the end of 2012, the United States adopted the so-called Magnitsky Act, which provides for visa and financial sanctions against Russian officials involved in the death of Magnitsky and other human rights violations. In the UK, the Magnitsky Act has not been adopted, however, officials of the Directorate for Special Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs report that “the contents of the Magnitsky list are known to them, and all measures have been taken to prevent the issuance of British visas to persons included in it.”

In July of this year, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow found no grounds for the rehabilitation of the deceased Sergei Magnitsky. On the contrary, he was found guilty of tax evasion posthumously. Previously, the case against Magnitsky was dropped due to his death. The head of the Hermitage Capital fund, William Browder, was also found guilty of tax evasion, sentencing him in absentia to nine years in a penal colony and depriving him of the right to engage in business activities in Russia for a period of 3 years.

Sergei Magnitsky's relatives are not giving up attempts to rehabilitate him. The mother of the deceased lawyer is challenging in the Moscow City Court the illegal, from her point of view,

Sergei Magnitsky's relatives continue to try to rehabilitate him

Judge Igor Alisov's refusal to consider a complaint against Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Viktor Grin. He, in turn, found no violations in the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs officers in the case of the death of Magnitsky in a pre-trial detention center. In a statement, lawyer Nikolai Gorokhov points out signs of official forgery by Judge Igor Alisov when making a decision to reject the complaint against Deputy Prosecutor General Grin. It was Judge Alisov who handed down a posthumous guilty verdict against Magnitsky in July.

On the eve of the anniversary of the death of Sergei Magnitsky, parliamentarians from 21 countries formed the group “Justice for Sergei Magnitsky”, the purpose of which is to promote national and interstate legislative initiatives, similar to the American Magnitsky Act, against human rights violators around the world. The group is headed by Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, the country's former Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General. Previously, he spoke in defense of political prisoners Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky.