Russia Charges Hermitage Capital's Head of Fraud

Russia filed fraud charges against William Browder, head of London-based investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, over dealings a decade ago in shares in the state gas firm Gazprom. The charges were filed before Browder was due to be tried on Monday in absentia, along with Hermitage's dead lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, in a separate tax evasion case that has stoked tensions between Moscow and the West. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that Browder had been charged with large-scale fraud after failing to respond to a summons for questioning. It estimated losses to the Russian state from the Gazprom deals at 3 billion roubles ($98 million). Browder has called the charges an "absurdity" and said the offshore structures Hermitage used to buy Gazprom shares had received the blessing of Russia's market regulator and the gas firm itself. Browder accuses President Vladimir Putin of retaliating over an investigation by Magnitsky that, Hermitage says, uncovered a $230 million tax fraud involving corrupt officials who seized control of companies affiliated with the fund group. Magnitsky died in jail in 2009 after what his employer said was a severe beating, prompting the U.S. Congress last year to pass the Magnitsky Act, which imposes visa bans and asset freezes on Russians suspected of violating human rights.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/russia-hermitage-idUKL6N0BZGLL20130307