Hermitage Capital Lawyer Dies in Moscow Jail at 37

Bloomberg, By Torrey Clark and Lucian Kim

A lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management died in a Moscow jail, almost a year after he was detained in relation to his work for the investment fund, Russian investigators said. He was 37.

Sergei Magnitsky died at 9:50 p.m. local time yesterday of apparent toxic shock and heart failure, said Irina Dudukina, a spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee of the Interior Ministry in Moscow.

Russia last month added William Browder, head of London- based Hermitage, to its international wanted list, saying he and Magnitsky participated in a tax-evasion scheme that deprived the federal budget of more than 500 million rubles ($17.4 million). Browder has been barred from the country since 2005 for being what authorities called a threat to “the security of the state, public order or public health.”

Hermitage, once the largest foreign owner of Russian stocks, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, calling the charges retribution for accusing Interior Ministry officials of stealing more than $230 million in budget money. The fund detailed the allegations in a 10-minute video posted on YouTube last month.

Magnitsky was in “good health” at the time of his arrest, said Jamison Firestone, founder of the Firestone Duncan law firm where Magnitsky worked. He was moved around a lot, put in cells that were either too hot or too cold and ended up in Butyrskaya prison, where he shared an 8-square-meter (86-square-foot) space with three other prisoners, Firestone said.

‘They Killed Him’

“They killed him, let’s not mince words,” Firestone said. “An innocent man was detained, put in awful conditions and denied medical treatment. This is normal in today’s Russia.”

In a request for help sent to Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, Magnitsky said that his health had “seriously deteriorated” after he was repeatedly refused medical treatment, Hermitage said in an e-mailed statement.

Magnitsky didn’t complain of health problems on Nov. 13, when his detention was prolonged, the Investigative Committee’s Dudukina said. An autopsy is being performed and the results will be made public, she said. займ на карту онлайн срочный займ на карту онлайн https://zp-pdl.com zp-pdl.com онлайн займ