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“RUSSIA HAS ITS OWN GROUP OF UNTOUCHABLES” – 60 RUSSIANS WHO CANNOT ENTER USA OR EUROPE > 
FROM THE -
JOURNALS of Monte Friesner ~ Saturday November 27, 2010 >
Financial Crime Consultant for WANTED SA >
WANTED SA has learned from Moscow that the suspected people who were involved in the death of Hermitage Fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky have received government awards and favors. This is a most unusual manner of events in Russia and is frightening many citizens.
Ahead of Militia Day – November 9 – Alexei Anichin, head of the Interior Ministry’s Investigations Department, handed out awards to his department’s very best investigators for jobs and cases well deserved; however, the death of Sergei Magnitsky is not punished.
His list largely duplicates U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin’s black-list naming 60 individuals involved in Magnitsky’s death. Anichin, who is No.1 on Cardin’s list, awarded practically everyone connected with Magnitsky’s persecution, exactly one week before the first anniversary of the lawyer’s death.
Magnitsky uncovered a massive scheme to embezzle 5.4 billion rubles from the budget, accusing Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Kuznetsov and investigators that searched the Hermitage office. He believed they seized the documents they needed to siphon off this cash while searching the premises.
The lawyer’s public statements met with an immediate response: those Magnitsky accused decided to take him to court. He was arrested, detained, and soon died (murdered) in prison. Before being put in custody, Magnitsky was healthy, but the inhuman conditions he was kept in and the investigators’ constant refusal to give him access to medical help killed him in under a year. He was arrested on November 24, 2008 and died in his cell on November 16, 2009.
One week before the anniversary of his death nearly everyone Hermitage sees as being involved in his death was decorated.
Best Investigator awards went to Major Pavel Karpov; Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Silchenko. Pavel Karpov; Artyom Kuznetsov were the men Magnitsky accused of pilfering 5.4 billion rubles from the budget.
These men led the ensuing investigation into Hermitage during which its subsidiaries’ documents and seals were seized. These items were just what was needed for a change in ownership, the creation of fake contracts and demands that the tax authorities refund 5.4 billion rubles (a familiar sum) in allegedly overpaid taxes.
After embezzling this money, Hermitage claims, Major Karpov and Lieutenant Colonel Kuznetsov went on a spending spree, buying up-market real estate and expensive cars.
Oleg Silchenko personally conducted the criminal case against Magnitsky. He was the man personally responsible and who repeatedly refused the lawyer medical treatment. He is the man who conspired to murder and silence Magnitsky.
What is happening in Russia today? The most interesting part is that some of the "Untouchable" Russians have purchased properties in Panama and are able to come and go freely!
The award Honored Interior Ministry of Russia Employee went to Natalya Vinogradova, mentioned on Cardin’s list, as investigator Silchenko’s superior. She turned down Magnitsky’s many petitions claiming the case against him had been fabricated.
Sergei Magnitsky’s death provoked a public outcry. President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the investigation to be reopened and there was a ripple of protest from several senior European politicians.
The public decoration of these particular individuals, just one week before the anniversary of Magnitsky’s death is not only evidence that those thought to be involved in the lawyer’s death have serious support, but it is also a signal to public opinion in Russia and across the world.
The Interior Ministry has made it abundantly clear that it will not accpet any interference from U.S. Senators or European MPs.
WANTED SA thanks to the Associated Press who contributed to this report and all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities forces who have contributed to this article and their sincere opinions and statements.
WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.
