Magnitsky-list suspect accuses Navalny and Browder of teaming up against Attorney General Chaika

Pavel Karpov, a former Russian investigator who worked the case of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, has informed Russia's Federal Investigative Committee about alleged connections between Alexey Navalny, who heads the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), and William Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital.

According to Karpov, Navalny and Browder “exercise their influence on the minds and will of the [Russian] people with the aim of discrediting the authorities.” In particular, Karpov points to FBK's recent investigation into the corrupt business affairs of Attorney General Yuri Chaika, claiming that the report is retaliation for police raids in Cyprus in connection with Browder's allegedly illegal acquisition of Gazprom shares.

Karpov also directed the Investigative Committee's attention to video clips about various “untouchable” Russian bureaucrats published by Navalny. Kaprov alleges these “untouchables” are people identified by Browder to have business and financial fraud connections to those who caused the death of Sergei Magnitsky. Navalny has named Pavel Karpov as one of these “untouchables.” 

According to Kommersant, [Karpov says] the entire affair relates to a police investigation launched this summer into the deliberate bankrupting of Distant Steppe, a company under Hermitage Capital's control. The Anti-Corruption Foundation's investigation of the Attorney General Yuri Chaika was triggered when Chaika asked Cyprus authorities to cooperate with Russia on the Distant Steppe bankruptcy, in accordance with international law.

Hermitage Capital Investment Fund specialized in managing shares of Russian firms. In 2009, a lawyer hired by the firm, Sergei Magnitsky, died in prison. Magnitsky claimed to have uncovered systematic theft of more than $230 million from the Russian state budget. Hermitage Capital believes investigator Pavel Karpov was involved in this scheme of systematic theft.

Shortly after the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a list of persons responsible for human rights violations in Russia was established by US Congress. This list primarily includes state officials allegedly involved in the death of the lawyer.

On December 1, Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation published an investigation into the business affairs of Attorney General Yuri Chaika and his family. The investigation cites the involvement of the Attorney General's son, Artem Chaika, in illegal seizures of assets, as well as the connections of a top official's ex-wife with the wives of known mobsters.