Russia plans to sue hedge-fund-manager-turned-activst Bill Browder, again

The Russian Interior Ministry plans to sue William Browder, the head of the hedge fund Hermitage Capital. He is being accused of deliberate bankruptcy and illegally transferring assets from his company Dalnaya Step through HSBC Bank.

Over 35.5 million Gazprom assets, one million of which are considered missing, were among the assets transferred by Browder’s company. The Russian Federal Tax service is considered to have suffered in the process.

Former Dalnaya Step executive director Alexander Dolzhenko is already facing charges in the case. He has admitted partial guilt, but his lawyer maintains that he did this under pressure. 

Lawyer Alexander Antipov, who is representing William Browder, has noted that the Interior Ministry’s investigations in connection with Dalnaya Step have been going on for eight years, “but the documents have not yet been sent to the court.” According to Antipov, this means that the investigation does not have any proof of Mr. Browder’s guilt.

William Browder was the head of Hermitage Capital, which operated in Russian between 1995 and 2006. In 2005, Browder was banned from entry to Russia. The travel ban is suspected to have been implemented due to a corruption investigation led by Hermitage Capital in Russia.

In 2007, Browder and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky were accused of tax evasion. Magnitsky was imprisoned and died in custody at the age of 37. Human rights groups say he was beaten and denied medical help when he was ill. Browder claims the tax evasion charges were also connected with the corruption investigation led by Hermitage Capital. A Russian court has sentenced Browder (in absentia) to 9 years in prison. He is wanted in Russia.