![]() The lawyer accused a number of Russian officials as being behind the scheme, including Olga Stepanova, a senior tax official, and her husband Vladlen Stepanov. Hermitage had been built up by Browder, a naturalised Briton, into the largest investment vehicle in Russia before it fell victim to the fraud. Magnitsky uncovered major fraud in 2008 after being retained by Hermitage Capital to investigate what had happened to companies that were illegally seized from the fund. The backstory behind the death of Magnitsky in prison is one of the darkest episodes in recent Russian history, with authorities refusing to investigate any of the fraud allegations despite substantial evidence. Perepilichnyy was involved in the murky world of semi-legal Russian cash and money-laundering, and many of his associates always felt the death could be suspicious, even if initial tests appeared to yield little evidence. Last week Browder sent a lengthy letter to Travers setting out his suspicions that the whistleblower had been murdered. The coroner, Richard Travers, has designated three interested parties: the police, the victim’s family and the unnamed insurer. They declined to say whether they are treating Perepilichnyy’s death as murder. In 2013 Surrey police ruled out third-party involvement and referred the death to the Surrey coroner.ĭetectives will now cooperate with the coroner while “additional work” and “clarification” takes place, ahead of an inquest on 21 September, Surrey police said on Monday. Despite this, detectives failed to carry out toxicology tests until three weeks afterwards. Browder said he informed the police repeatedly about the threats made against Perepilichnyy in the run-up to his death. That particular variety of the plant grows only in Asia.īrowder, a notable critic of Vladimir Putin, has also been bitterly critical of Surrey police’s investigation. In 2011 a Chinese billionaire, Long Liyuan, died after eating a dish of cat-meat stew believed to have been laced with the poison. ![]() Perepilichnyy’s last meal may be the key to the case. The expert will now retest blood and urine samples – applying different techniques – as well as as a sample taken from the spleen. Similar traces were not found in blood samples. Simmonds found traces of an ion linked to the gelsemium plant, the most toxic of which is Gelsemium elegans. The insurer is believed to have commissioned the independent toxicology reports from Kew. Shortly before his death Perepilichnyy is understood to have taken out a substantial life insurance policy. She has not spoken publicly about her husband’s death and a barrister represented her at Monday’s hearing at Woking coroner’s court. Peripilichnyy’s widow, Nataliya, is still believed to be in the UK. He was 44 and had previously been healthy. Their last meeting took place shortly before the whistleblower’s sudden death on 5 November 2012. He added that in 2011-12 Peripilichnyy had mentioned that the situation in Russia had become dangerous for him and that he was receiving threats. The photos of him are pretty accurate, though when I saw him he was a bit skinnier,” the friend said. Perepilichnyy decided to come forward after the arrest, torture and death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, Hermitage’s lawyer in Moscow. His evidence led Swiss prosecutors to freeze a bank account containing $11m and belonging to the family of a prominent Russian government official. The friend met Perepilichnyy in a series of London bars and restaurants in connection with the investigation into the Hermitage fraud allegations. The money was allegedly stolen from taxes paid by Hermitage Capital, a hedge fund run by the US-born financier Bill Browder. He provided details of an alleged $230m (£148m) fraud carried out by senior Russian tax officials. Perepilichnyy was instrumental in exposing a massive alleged money-laundering ring involving the Russian mafia and the Russian state. They lived in the high-security St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge. ![]() The Perepilichnyys kept a low-profile, rarely mingling with the large community of Russians in London. He tried to be cautious but was definitely quite fatalistic about the threats against him.” The friend met Perepilichnyy on five occasions after he fled in 2010 from Moscow to the UK with his wife and their two children. Perepilichnyy’s friend – who declined to be named – said on Tuesday: “He was a very nice chap. Alexander Perepilichnyy, who came forward after the death in custody of Magnitsky.
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