// Press Releases (in English)
Bill Browder Testified to British Parliament about the Luxury Spending Spree by Klyuev Money Laundering Network in London
May 4, 2016
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Bill Browder Testified to British Parliament about the Luxury Spending Spree by Klyuev Money Laundering Network in London
4 May 2016 – Bill Browder, leader of the global “Justice for Sergei Magnitsky” campaign, revealed the results of a 6-year long investigation of the Klyuev money laundering network uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky, Hermitage’s outside legal counsel, was killed in Russian police custody after giving testimony about Russian officials’ complicity in the US$230 million fraud – the largest known tax refund fraud in modern Russian history.
In the testimony given to the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, William Browder identified more than US$30 million in proceeds which came to the UK through the Klyuev money laundering network.
The head of the network, Dmitry Klyuev, was sentenced in Russia in 2006, and was sanctioned by the US Government in 2014 for his role in the Magnitsky case under the US law, “Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.”
Dmitry Klyuev was owner of ‘Universal Savings Bank,’ which received a portion of the stolen US$230 million directly from the Russian treasury. Some of these proceeds, through a series of shell companies, ended up in the Cyprus bank accounts of his two connected BVI companies, Altem Invest and Zibar Management, which then wired funds to the UK.
In addition, the Klyuev money laundering network used UKIO BANKAS (Lithuania) for extensive money laundering, accumulating and laundering proceeds from the US$230 million fraud and related criminal activity, and wiring them abroad, including to recipients in the UK.
US$30 million were spent in the UK to hire private jets, pay for exclusive interior design projects, pay tuition at an exclusive college, purchase a wedding dress and clothing from fashion boutiques, spend money through elite credit cards on a personal concierge service, and make payments to architects and property agents.
- US$295,622 was spent on Glamour Credit Card, promoted as “strictly by invitation only,” “catering to the wealthiest ladies worldwide,” offering “access to a privileged and luxurious service the likes of which have never before existed,” with “no spending limit.”
- Over US$175,000 was paid to hire private jets.
- US$240,000 was spent on a yacht.
- Nearly US$200,000 was paid to an exclusive home and yacht interior designer in Chelsea.
- US$259,532 was sent to a lady connected to an expensive property in Surrey.
- Over US$40,000 was paid to a couture wedding dress designer in London, Phillipa Lepley.
- About US$20,000 was spent on payment to a London fashion boutique “La Petite S.”
- US$100,000 went to an award-winning luxury architect and interior design company.
- £115,315 was wired to Harrods Estate, a luxury property agent.
- £2,500 was spent on Quintessentially, a premier personal concierge service.
- £19,500 was wired for property rental to a London real estate agent.
- £18,470 was spent on fashion items from a fashion label.
This is the first time that money from the crime uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky have been shown to reach recipients in the UK.
The Klyuev money laundering network used nearly every major UK bank.
Several UK citizens provided their services as directors for shell companies used in the Klyuev money laundering network. Some of the companies used in the Klyuev money laundering network were also registered in the UK, but held accounts with banks in the Baltics to conceal their illicit activity.
John Wortley Hunt was director of Altem Invest Ltd, owned by Dmitry Klyuev, which received proceeds from the US$230 million fraud and then sent funds to the UK. John Hunt was also listed as a director of 256 BVI companies, 364 UK companies, 29 Irish and 3 New Zealand companies, according to previous reports.
Andrew Moray Stuart was a director for a company owned by Vladlen Stepanov, the husband of Russian Tax Official Olga Stepanova, who approved a significant portion of the illegal US$230 million tax refund. Andrew Moray Stuart was also a director of Forres Limited, which received and sent funds stolen from the Russian treasury through a number of shell companies to the UK. According to previous reporting by investigative journalists, Andrew Moray Stuart was listed as nominal director of 214 BVI companies, 36 UK companies, 43 Irish and 4 New Zealand companies.
Damian Calderbank was director of Kareras Limited, registered in the UK, which siphoned stolen funds and routed them through a series of shell companies to the UK. He was registered as director of 708 companies, according to previous reports.
Past submissions to the UK law enforcement authorities from Hermitage on the activities of the Klyuev Organised Crime Group in the UK were met with reluctance to investigate.
This is in contrast to actions taken by authorities in other countries, where over US$40 million in funds connected to the crime exposed by Sergei Magnitsky have been frozen:
- The US court froze US$14 million in illicit funds, traced by the U.S. Department of Justice to Manhattan real estate and bank accounts of Denis Katsyv, the son of a senior Russian government official.
- The Swiss General Prosecutor froze about US$6 million in accounts belonging to the same Denis Katsyv and his companies and associates in Switzerland.
- In addition, the Swiss General Prosecutor froze over US$10 million in bank accounts of Vladlen Stepanov, the husband of a Russian tax official who approved part of the US$230 fraudulent tax refund.
- Last year, the French authorities froze millions of euros on accounts after launching an investigation into the US$230 million fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky.
“We hope that with the new evidence of substantial spending in the UK, UK authorities will now take a robust approach to investigating and prosecuting those in the UK involved in the money laundering network uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky,” said a representative of the ‘Justice for Sergei Magnitsky’ campaign.
The UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry is currently looking at the effectiveness of measures introduced in the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, in depriving criminals of any benefit from their crimes.
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
+44 207 440 1777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables
Twitter: @Billbrowder
William Browder Will Testify at the British Parliament on Details of a Russian Luxury Spending Spree in London of Money Connected to Crime Uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky
May 3, 2016
PRESS RELEASE
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William Browder Will Testify at the British Parliament on Details of a Russian Luxury Spending Spree in London of Money Connected to Crime Uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky
3 May 2016 – Today, at 3 pm, William Browder, leader of the global “Justice for Sergei Magnitsky” campaign, will testify in front of the UK Parliament’s Home Affairs Committeeabout the Russian money laundering in the UK and the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Mr Browder will reveal results of a six-year long investigation into the money laundering and proceeds of corruption exposed by Sergei Magnitsky, which led to Magnitsky’s arrest, torture and murder in Russian police custody at the age of 37.
The information will include detailed descriptions of luxury purchases in London and surrounding counties totalling US$30 million connected to the money laundering network uncovered thanks to Sergei Magnitsky.
This investigation was assisted by Alexander Perepilichnyy, a Russian whistleblower who came forward after Sergei Magnitsky’s death and provided bank statements leading to more than US$15 million being frozen by Swiss Prosecutor General in a separate Swiss money laundering investigation. Perepilichnyy died in November 2012 in suspicious circumstances in front of his home in Weybridge, Surrey at the age of 44.
The investigation into the Magnitsky case has recently revealed a connection of the proceeds from the crime Sergei Magnitsky uncovered to the ‘Panama Papers,’ and specifically to Sergei Roldugin, President Putin’s long-time friend and cellist.
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
+44 207 440 1777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Twitter: @Billbrowder
Leaders of the European Parliament Call on Mogherini To Impose EU-Wide Magnitsky Sanctions in the Wake of the Anti-Magnitsky Event held in Brussels last week
May 2, 2016
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Leaders of the European Parliament Call on Mogherini To Impose EU-Wide Magnitsky Sanctions in the Wake of the Anti-Magnitsky Event held in Brussels last week
2 May 2016 – Following the anti-Magnitsky event held at the European parliament last Wednesday, and attended by Russians included on European Parliament’s sanctions list, today leading members of the European Parliament have called on Federica Mogherini, EU’s foreign affairs chief, to implement Magnitsky sanctions in Europe.
The call on Federica Mogherini, in charge of EU’s foreign policy, is signed by Elmar Brok, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rebecca Harms, president of The Greens–European Free Alliance group, Guy Verhofstadt, chair of the Alde Group, and other members of the European parliament from EPP, ECR, S&D, Alde, and Greens/EFA political groups.
Two years ago, on 2 April 2014, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the EU Council of Ministers to sanction 32 Russian individuals, connected to the case of Sergei Magnitsky and his killing in Russian police custody after exposing the US$230 million fraud. Since then, no action was taken by European External Action Service. In January 2015, Ms Mogherini advised the European parliamentarians she did not think it was a good policy.
Last week, on 27 April 2016, a delegation of Russians, including Pavel Karpov and Andrei Pavlov who are No 7 and No 15 on the European Parliament’s Magnitsky Sanctions Resolution list, attended an anti-Magnitsky event at the European parliament in Brussels, which was widely covered by Russian media. The event was organized by Heidi Hautala, MEP from Finland, to screen a defamatory film about Sergei Magnitsky produced by her Russian boyfriend, Andrei Nekrasov. The film falsely claims that Sergei Magnitsky had not been beaten in custody and had not named police officers in his testimonies for their role in the fraud to steal US$230 million from the Russian budget. Ms Hautala invited Andrei Pavlov and Pavel Karpov, two people on the 32-people sanctions list approved by the parliament, to attend the event.
“The presence in the European Parliament of two of these individuals, targeted by international sanctions, shows clearly the need for concerted EU action, and that HRVP Mogherini must finally bring the Magnitsky sanctions to the Council for adoption,” said the statement by leaders of the European Parliament.
“We, members of the European Parliament, strongly protest against the fact that two individuals named on a European Parliament’s sanctions list received access to and participated in an event in the EP held on 27 April this year … which appears to be used as part of a broader campaign to discredit critics of the Russian leadership, both inside and outside the country, and to denigrate Sergey Magnitsky’s personality and his tragic death in a Russian prison cell,” said leaders of the European Parliament.
Pavel Karpov and Andrei Pavlov are No 7 and No 15 on the European Parliament’s Magnitsky list, which recommends the EU Council of Ministers to impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on those who were involved in the crimes against Sergei Magnitsky.
#7: KARPOV, Pavel, born 27 August 1977;
#15: PAVLOV, Andrey (a.k.a. Pavlov, Andrei), born 7 August 1977;
Andrei Pavlov greeting Heidi Hautala, MEP, 27 April 2016
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
+44 207 440 1777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables
Twitter: @Billbrowder
Two Russians Included in the European Parliament’s Magnitsky List Welcomed at the European Parliament for Anti-Magnitsky Event
April 29, 2016
PRESS RELEASE
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Two Russians Included in the European Parliament’s Magnitsky List Welcomed at the European Parliament for Anti-Magnitsky Event
29 April 2016 – Two Russians on the European Parliament’s Magnitsky Sanctions List were welcomed at the European parliament for the premiere of a film by a Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov, defaming the memory of Sergei Magnitsky.
Among those present in the audience in Brussels on April 27th were ex police officer Pavel Karpov, named in Sergei Magnitsky’s testimony for his role in the custody of documents and files, used in the fraud to steal $230 million from the Russian government, and Andrei Pavlov, the lawyer who took part in sham court proceedings, described in Sergei Magnitsky’s testimony as part of that same crime.
Pavel Karpov and Andrei Pavlov are No 7 and No 15 on the European Parliament’s Magnitsky list, which recommends the European Council to impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on those who were involved in the crimes against Sergei Magnitsky.
#7: KARPOV, Pavel, born 27 August 1977;
#15: PAVLOV, Andrey (a.k.a. Pavlov, Andrei), born 7 August 1977;
In his testimony on the fraud, Sergei Magnitsky described the roles of both Pavel Karpov and Andrei Pavlov. In particular, Sergei Magnitsky said in his 5 June 2008 testimony:
“Many times the lawyer of Firestone Duncan (CIS) Limited and the company’s representatives requested Investigator P.A. Karpov to return the seized documents that were not related to the case investigated by P.A. Karpov, but the investigator kept delaying the return of the documents saying that there were many documents and it took him much time to finish examining them.”
“I can confirm that the seized folders, which I also used in my work, contained the originals of the latest editions of the Articles of Association of LLC Kameya, LLC Parfenion, LLC Rilend and LLC Makhaon, the original certificates of the tax registration, the original certificates of the legal entity state registration, the original Minutes of meetings and resolutions of the sole participants of the companies, the original legalized certificates confirming the residency of the companies’ participants and some other documents,” testified Sergei Magnitsky.
In his testimony Sergei Magnitsky described fictitious claims filed against Hermitage’s companies in Russia and the appearance of Pavlov in those sham court proceedings:
“Almost at once it became clear that the filing and consideration of the said claims were associated with fraudulent actions because as it followed from the decisions of the Arbitration Court of Saint-Petersburg and the Leningrad Region dated 3 and 7 September 2007, the court hearings had been attended by the LLC Makhaon representative Yu.M. Maiorova and the LLC Rilend representative A.A. Pavlov, who presented Powers of Attorney said to be issued by those companies and dated 24 August 2007. It means the Powers of Attorney were forged ones because the companies’ seals had been seized and were kept at the Main Investigative Department of the Main Internal Affairs Department of Moscow.”
Four months later, on 7 October 2008, Sergei Magnitsky confirmed his 5 June 2008 testimony and added in his testimony the discovery of “the embezzlement of budget funds that took place in excess of Five Billion rubles, which was obviously committed by the same group of persons that used illegal re-registration of Parfenion LLC, Makhaon LLC, and Rilend LLC and filing claims against those companies as a tool for embezzling money from the state treasury.”
At the event held in the European Parliament seven and half years later, on 27 April 2016, Pavel Karpov was giving interviews to Russian TV stations, and Andrei Pavlov was able to approach Heidi Hautala, MEP from Finland, who hosted the event.
Andrei Pavlov greeting Heidi Hautala, MEP, 27 April 2016
Lithuanian MEP Petras Austrevicius interrupted proceedings in the European Parliament the following day, on 28 April 2016, to draw attention to the fact that two Russian citizens whose names were placed on the European Parliament’s Magnitsky list, had been allowed access to the parliament the previous day.
Mr Austrevicius, MEP, said:
“I deplore this happening within the walls of the European Parliament,” it was, he went on, “an issue of the integrity of our own decisions.”
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
+44 207 440 1777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables
Twitter: @Billbrowder
Letter from the Magnitsky Family about the film of Andrei Nekrasov defaming memory of Sergei Magnitsky
Magnitsky Family Blasts the Green Party in the European Parliament for Hosting Premiere of a False and Offensive Film about Sergei Magnitsky by Andrei Nekrasov
April 27, 2016
PRESS RELEASE
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Magnitsky Family Blasts the Green Party in the European Parliament for Hosting Premiere of a False and Offensive Film about Sergei Magnitsky by Andrei Nekrasov
27 April 2016 – The widow and mother of Sergei Magnitsky have written to the Green/EFA faction in the European Parliament (see their letter) protesting the premiere of a new false, offensive and defamatory film by Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov about their murdered husband and son. The premiere will take place this afternoon at 5:30 pm at the European Parliament.
The premiere is sponsored at the European Parliament by the Greens/EFA Group, and hosted by Heidi Hautala, Finnish MEP, Vice President of the Green/EFA Group, who was reported in the Finnish press to be filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov’s girlfriend.
The Magnitsky family expressed their indignation in the letter about this new attempt to blacken Sergei Magnitsky’s name. They view this film as promoting the interests of those who Sergei Magnitsky exposed and who are afraid of the truth he had uncovered.
“This film has been made in the interest of those who are scared of the truth uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, – said Sergei Magnitsky’s mother and widow. – “By this letter the family of Sergei Magnitsky state their highly negative reaction to this film and protest against unconscionable attempts to blacken Sergei Magnitsky’s name. We are categorically against public viewing of the Andrei Nekrasov’s film, against its distribution in any form.”
The letter from the Magnitsky family states that the film contains false information and lies about Sergei Magnitsky. They are categorically against any showing or distribution of this film, including and especially at the European Parliament.
“We believe that the film by Andrei Nekrasov, based on his inventions, and not on documents and facts, is degrading to the dignity of Sergei Magnitsky, degrading to the deceased, who cannot defend himself,” says the letter from the Magnitsky family.
The film by Andrei Nekrasov and producer Torstein Grude of Piraya Films (Norway) is designed to perpetuate a Russian government disinformation campaign about the Magnitsky case for a Western audience. The film claims that Sergei Magnitsky was not beaten in custody, was not a lawyer, did not testify against Russian officials, did not investigate the US$230 million fraud, but instead committed it himself.
These false claims are contradicted by numerous documents. In particular, the claim that he wasn’t beaten is refuted by the photos of his injuries from the state autopsy; his death certificate stating he had a suspected cerebrial cranial injury; certificates from the detention center where he died recording the application of rubber batons; the Russian state forensic opinion finding that Sergei Magnitsky’s injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma.
Magnitsky’s profession as a lawyer is demonstrated by his role in representing his multiple clients in court, providing them legal advice, and his own testimony identifying himself as a lawyer.
The fact that Sergei Magnitsky’s testified against police officers is proven by his testimony from 5 June 2008 in which he described the theft of Hermitage’s companies and fraudulent claims against them, mentioning police officer Kuznetsov 14 times and police officer Karpov 13 times, his 7 October 2008 testimony in which he confirmed his 5 June 2008 testimony and testified that the same group who stole Hermitage’s companies stole US$230 mln from the Russian budget.
The claim that Sergei Magnitsky stole US$230 mln is refuted by the discovery of the illicit proceeds from the fraud on accounts connected to the Russian officials and members of their families; the joint travel of the criminals and Russian government officials involved in the fraud; the fact that Magnitsky helped Hermitage report the crime three weeks before the criminals applied for the fraudulent tax refund, and the fact that the same criminal organisation did similar crimes before and after.
The false and defamatory allegations about Sergei Magnitsky that Nekrasov tries to make have been refuted in the past by independent international institutions including the Council of Europe, the EU Parliament, the US State Department and many others who have studied the case in detail. Furthermore, the allegations in the film are also contradicted by the Russian government’s own evidence, court records, and expert conclusions.
In Sergei Magnitsky’s own hand-written statement, 4 days before his death, on 12 November 2009, he wrote:
“By now it has been a year that I am being held hostage in prison in the interests of the persons, who are interested to ensure that those actually guilty in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles [US$230 million] from the budget will never be brought to justice. … Investigator Silchenko does not want to identify the other persons, who made this fraud possible. He wants the lawyers of the Hermitage Fund, who pursued and continue to pursue attempts for this case be investigated, be forced to emigrate from their country, in which criminal cases were fabricated against them on phony grounds, or like me be detained in custody.
My detention in custody has absolutely nothing in common with the purpose of criminal justice, which I referred to earlier. It has nothing in common with the legal purpose of restraint listed in Article 97 of the Russian Criminal Procedural Code, but this is a punishment to which I have been subjected for merely defending the interests of my client and, ultimately, the interests of the Government, because should my client’s interests be realized, should the law enforcement agencies stop obstructing the interests of my client and instead assisted them, then the theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the state would not be possible. The actual purpose of my criminal prosecution and my detention in custody are in conflict with the law.”
The mother of Sergei Magnitsky has previously written to the producer of the film, but received no reply.
Letter from Sergei Magnitsky Family: http://russian-untouchables.com/docs/Letter%20from%20family%20%20on%20Nekrasov%20movie.pdf
For more information please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables
Twitter: @Billbrowder
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