MIKE NOVA'S STARRED ITEMS
MIKE NOVA'S STARRED ITEMS
via World news: Russia | guardian.co.uk by Mark Townsend on 3/17/13
Shortly after 5.15pm on 10 November 2012, a jogger turned into Granville Road, Weybridge, running along the hedge-lined street of one of Britain's wealthiest enclaves. Then, 50m from his home, he staggered into the road and died.
In the days that followed, Surrey police believed they were dealing with a natural, if unusual, death. Four months on, the passing of 44-year-old Alexander Perepilichnyystill remains a mystery. Two post-mortems have proved inconclusive, but the outcome of what Surrey police promise is their "full range" of toxicology tests is imminent.
To piece together Perepilichnyy's final years is to drill down into the core of Russian criminality, according to one account.
What we know of Perepilichnyy is slight. In another age he might have been a rocket scientist. Peers called him a "genius", a Ukranian whiz-kid with an uncanny knack for numbers. His favourite waste of time was, they say, discussing the theories behindcosmogony and Kondratiev waves – the long-term cycles of capitalism. However by the time Perepilichnyy arrived to study at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology – famous for supplying the brains behind the Soviet space race – Russia's lunar ambitions had curdled with the collapse of communism. Instead Perepilichnyy applied his talents to the world of finance and was, until 2008, a star talent at an asset management firm in Moscow.
That year, on the other side of Moscow, across Red Square and the brown Moskva river, a rival investment fund to Perepilichnyy's had become engulfed in crisis.Hermitage Capital was under the guidance of a man called Bill Browder, a naturalised Briton based in London who had built the investment firm into the largest foreign investor in Russia. But on Christmas Eve 2007, it had discovered itself to be the victim of a huge and sophisticated scam.
Browder hired Moscow-based lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, to investigate. In July 2008, Magnitsky revealed his findings detailing a web of corruption involving state tax officials and police. Magnitsky allegedly revealed how a gang of detectives, tax inspectors and convicted criminals had planned a 2007 police raid on Hermitage's Moscow office in which officers stole paperwork relating to Browder's companies. These documents were then used to secretly apply for a tax refund worth £144m.
Following the paper trail, Magnitsky found that the rebate, the largest in Russian history, had been approved at a Moscow tax office in just one day. The vast proceeds had disappeared into a shady network of accounts, according to Magnitsky. After reporting the crime to the authorities, instead of being lauded for his work, Magnitsky was arrested by police and accused of orchestrating the fraud himself. In jail, the 37-year-old was denied medical treatment, handcuffed and beaten by riot troops. He had been in prison awaiting trial for 358 days when on 16 November 2009 doctors found him dead on his cell floor in a pool of urine.
Perepilichnyy had paid close attention to Magnitsky's fate. Among his client portfolio, he soon realised, were the same senior tax officials Magnitsky had accused of perpetrating the crime against Hermitage Capital. Worse still, Perepilichnyy suspected the vast proceeds of the crime were starting to wash through the foreign corporate bank and Credit Suisse accounts which he managed.
According to associates, Perepilichnyy was "properly scared" by the death of Magnitsky. Sources say the financier feared he might be implicated in the fraud or similarly victimised if he spoke out. At the end of 2009, Perepilichnyy fled to Britain with his family and what appears to have been a vast fortune, the provenance of which still remains opaque.
One friend in Moscow, who requested anonymity, said: "Most of all he was an outstanding father. He seemed to be thinking of them 80% of his time."
Perepilichnyy believed the exclusive confines of St George's Hill in Surrey would offer sufficient protection for himself, his wife and their two young children, and began renting the six-bedroom Coach House off Granville Road for around £15,000 a month. It was a fortified mansion in an area protected by round-the-clock guards and roadblocks. As one Surrey police source explained: Perepilichnyy lived where "even the security has security".
Perepilichnyy adopted a deliberately low profile in the UK. All that changed during the summer of 2010, when he decided to follow the lead set by Magnitsky and handed over evidence and details of the Credit Suisse accounts. Hermitage in turn passed them to the Swiss police, sparking an ongoing international inquiry that has spread to six countries and resulted in the accounts of alleged Russian fraudsters being frozen.
Perepilichnyy's act put him in grave danger. By the time he went for his final jog last November, the threats against him were mounting. One corrupt official allegedly involved in the fraud against Hermitage warned "the financial wizard" to stop running scared in England because he owed money to "scores of creditors". Even the alleged killers of Litvinenko joined the long list of those with a potential motive. One of the suspects wanted for trial over the murder of the former KGB spy is among those understood to have launched legal action against Perepilichnyy, accusing him of failing to pay back debts. Perepilichnyy told business contacts in London that Moscow police agents had informed him his name was on the "hit list" of Chechen assassin groups for hire and that they had accumulated a dossier with details of his life in Surrey.
Rumours persist that he was part of the fraud against Hermitage, although his friends insist it was naivety, not greed, that brought him into danger. "He was a tragic hero," says one. "He could have been a genius professor of maths at a different time and place. He became followed, threatened and put into a corner."
Yet even at the end, Perepilichnyy had enough courage to flout the death threats and travel abroad. On the day he died, he had just returned from Paris after a three-day visit. During his sojourn in the French capital he'd booked two hotels, but it is unclear why he went to Paris or who he met there.
Investigators working for Hermitage claim the deaths of Magnitsky and Perepilichnyy are the latest in a series of suspicious deaths. They claim at least five other men who have died in strange circumstances had links to individuals they allege were involved in the fraud. The investigators paint a picture of a shadowy network of corrupt police, tax officials and criminals dubbed the Klyuev group, which is, they claim, headed by the bald, heavy-set figure of businessman Dmitry Klyuev. A spokesman for Klyuev, who is a convicted fraudster, describes the suggestion that such a group exists as a "fabrication and a lie". The spokesman pours scorn on the idea of a string of suspicious deaths and adds that Browder, whom he describes as a "corporate blackmailer", is running a highly defamatory PR campaign.
The first unusual death, according to the Hermitage investigators, came in 2005. Sergei Albaev, a former KGB officer, worked for Klyuev as a chauffeur. Documents from a Moscow court case record his wife's worry: "He became more secretive, agitated, and kept saying he had problems at work." Unknown to her, Albaev, along with his boss Klyuev, had been accused of helping orchestrate a £1.1bn fraud against Russia's biggest iron-ore producer, a criminal act that Hermitage lawyers allege was a forerunner to the attack on them.
On 3 March 2005, before Albaev could plead his innocence in court, he went on a business trip. He called his wife, saying he was in the Rostov region, 700km south of Moscow. On 8 April she received a call from a man she did not recognise. Her husband had died, said the stranger. Albaev's death certificate states he died from heart failure. Albaev was only 39. Although it was true Albaev liked a drink, smoked and weighed about 150kg, his family believes his death seemed sudden. Even now, his wife and child have no idea who he was with when he died or what he was doing.
Within weeks came another death. Alexei Alexanov had also been implicated as a key player in the attempted iron-ore fraud. Little is known about Alexanov other than, according to court transcripts, that he had known Klyuev since 1991. During a pre-trial interview, Alexanov insisted he would never sign fraudulent contracts, claiming that the implicating signatures looked nothing like his handwriting. Alexanov never had another chance to contest his innocence. Soon after, he too died in the Rostov region of heart failure. He was 46.
The next death wasn't so much strange as mistimed, according to investigators. It occurred in the wake of the fraud against Hermitage Capital. In the period after Magnitsky uncovered the crime, and before his arrest, the Russian interior ministry launched an investigation into his claims that quickly yielded a culprit. On the face of it, Oktai Gasanov from Azerbaijan seemed an unusual criminal mastermind. The 58-year-old appears to have been little more than a lowly security guard at a Moscow trading centre. But it is Gasanov's death certificate that raises the most questions. Gasanov died two months and 24 days before the actual fraud was committed. Had he been framed by police officers alleged to have been part of the syndicate that targeted Hermitage?
Then there was Valery Kurochkin – a bumbling alcoholic, according to police records, yet named by tax officials as the inheritor of Hermitage Capital. He never had time to indulge his new-found wealth: allegedly having taken a midnight train to Ukraine with five of the fraud suspects, the 48-year-old was found dead close to Boryspil international airport, near Kiev, on 30 April. His death certificate cites cirrhosis as the cause of death.
Then came Semyon Korobeinikov. Magnitsky had traced money from the Hermitage fraud to a Russian bank called USB which Klyuev had once owned but which had apparently been sold in 2006 to Korobeinikov. Before the 57-year-old could be questioned, Korobeinikov elected – according to the official report – to visit a Moscow construction site in September 2008 and climb a half-finished luxury penthouse. "Korobeinikov took himself to a big height," says the police inquiry's peculiar explanation. "His heart felt poorly, he fell down, obtaining injuries incompatible with life."
Klyuev is robust in his rejection of the claims made by Hermitage, saying that the company, and Browder, is trying to frame him. "To completely fool the public, Browder hints at various 'suspicious' deaths, cynically describing them in the context of… Dmitry Klyuev," says Klyuev's spokesman. The "Klyuev group", he says, was invented by Browder and the allegations are "unworthy and low". The spokesman accuses Browder of extensive criminal activity himself and points out that Browder is facing charges in Russia, in a case that was due to start last week.
As diplomats in Moscow and London wait nervously for the outcome of the toxicology assessments on Perepilichnyy, many believe his name may join Magnitsky's as a central source of friction between Russia and the west. In December the US Senate passed the Magnitsky Act, which imposes a visa ban and sanctions on 60 Russians implicated in the fraud and lawyer's death. The act prompted Cold War-style posturing and tit-for-tat sanctions, including President Vladimir Putin's ban on Americans adopting Russian children. Russia is pressing ahead with the posthumous prosecution of Magnitsky for tax evasion, the trial that also indicts Browder.
This prosecution has drawn widespread international condemnation and forced the European Parliament to describe it as a "violation of international and national laws". The last precedent for the posthumous trial dates back to medieval times when, in 897, the then pope held a trial of his predecessor, whose body was dug up and propped up on a chair in the papal court.
Klyuev claims the case will ensure Browder's "own crimes cannot remain hidden. [He] should honestly reveal all the accusations made against him and explain his behaviour in each specific instance."
Whether the Klyuev group exists or not, many of its alleged members appear to like London. Lawyers for Hermitage claim that analysis of flight records reveal that 61 flights between Moscow and London have carried at least one member of the so-called group since Magnitsky exposed the fraud and have identified to the Serious Fraud Office individuals who they say have laundered the fraudulent money.
If suspicions about Perepilichnyy's death were to be confirmed, the broader concern among the intelligence services is that Russian hitmen could be freely entering the UK. Hermitage employees have received at least 11 death threats, mainly text messages from phones traced to Russia. The firm's London staff report being put under surveillance by strangers, and many now follow elaborate security routines.
Former foreign minister Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, is among those perturbed that elements of the Russian mafia may be able to move freely about in London. "Undoubtedly there is a security risk in Britain at the moment," says Bryant. "There are a number of Russian operatives acting in the UK – the long arm of Russian vendettas seems to stretch over here." Browder has no doubt that he is a marked man.
Publicly, at least, no one is any wiser as to why Perepilichnyy dropped dead at the end of his jog. The ongoing police investigation is liaising with MI5, and Swiss and Russian authorities – but the latter relationship has been particularly difficult sinceAlexander Litvinenko's murder in 2006 in London. Perepilichnyy himself allegedly owed money to Dmitry Kovtun, one of the prime suspects wanted by British prosecutors over the poisoning. But senior Whitehall sources are keenly aware that the cause of Perepilichnyy's death has potentially seismic ramifications. If it is proven that Perepilichnyy was murdered, then no one is safe.
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Russian Orthodox church advises people to avoid Instagram and Twitter when annual period of self-denial begins next week
The Russian Orthodox Church has long told its followers to give up milk and meat for Lent but when the annual period of self-denial begins on Monday its leaders want the flock to go one stage further.
There should be no tweeting or instagramming of the experience – and no social media at all, in order to better cleanse the soul, according to church spokesman, Vsevolod Chaplin.
"I don't mean just people who use depraved, entertaining, stupid and empty information," Chaplin said. "Even useful information, that relates to our work and well-meaning interests, clogs the brain and soul too much."
Russians should take the opportunity of Lent to give up social media and "look at themselves and the world around them with different eyes", he said during a press conference this week.
"Giving yourself several hours or 15 minutes of time during Lent to not read curses on social networks, but serious texts, serious art, prayer, unhurried conversation with close ones – this is a unique chance to change your life," he said.
Russia is currently celebrating Maslenitsa, a week-long pancake festival ahead of Lent. Marking Lent has become quite fashionable in recent years, as the church experiences a revival launched with the fall of the Soviet Union.
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"When a person makes a query on church life in an Internet search engine, he finds a lot of lies, hypocrisy and hatred," the patriarch said, the news agency RIA-Novosti reported. "Blogs, social networks – all offer new opportunities for Christian testimony. To be absent from there means to admit one's helplessness and reluctance for saving one's brethren."
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The Russian Orthodox Church has long told its followers to give up milk and meat for Lent but when the annual period of self-denial begins on Monday its leaders want the flock to go one stage further.
There should be no tweeting or instagramming of the experience – and no social media at all, in order to better cleanse the soul, according to church spokesman, Vsevolod Chaplin.
"I don't mean just people who use depraved, entertaining, stupid and empty information," Chaplin said. "Even useful information, that relates to our work and well-meaning interests, clogs the brain and soul too much."
Russians should take the opportunity of Lent to give up social media and "look at themselves and the world around them with different eyes", he said during a press conference this week.
"Giving yourself several hours or 15 minutes of time during Lent to not read curses on social networks, but serious texts, serious art, prayer, unhurried conversation with close ones – this is a unique chance to change your life," he said.
Russia is currently celebrating Maslenitsa, a week-long pancake festival ahead of Lent. Marking Lent has become quite fashionable in recent years, as the church experiences a revival launched with the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Orthodox Church has gained enormous power and influence under Vladimir Putin, the president. It has often spoken out as a reactionary force pushing for conservative values and against influences that are seen as western, like the Internet.
Research by the Levada Centre, an independent pollster, recently found that 79 per cent of Russians consider themselves Orthodox. Yet only 5 per cent attend church regularly.
Last month, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the church and a close Putin ally, told a meeting of bishops that the church should increase its presence online in order to combat anti-religious forces.
"When a person makes a query on church life in an Internet search engine, he finds a lot of lies, hypocrisy and hatred," the patriarch said, the news agency RIA-Novosti reported. "Blogs, social networks – all offer new opportunities for Christian testimony. To be absent from there means to admit one's helplessness and reluctance for saving one's brethren."
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German doctors have expressed optimism that Bolshoi Theater artistic director Sergei Filin will recover sufficiently from having acid thrown in his face to return to work.
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Despite acid burns to his eyes and face, reportedly caused by a rival, Sergei Filin says he is not intimidated at returning to his job
The Bolshoi ballet's artistic director badly burned in an acid attack said on Friday he is "full of strength and faith" that he will eventually see well enough to return to work. Sergei Filin, swathed in a large black scarf and knitted hat to cover his burns, spoke at Aachen hospital in Germany, where doctors said one of his badly damaged eyes had shown some improvement and that they remained hopeful he would recover useful vision.
"I am full of strength and faith that I will recover what has been unjustly taken from me," Filin said as he thanked hospital staff for their help in treating his eyes and burned skin. He said he was not afraid of returning to work at the Bolshoi despite reports of rivalries that might have been the motivation for the attack.
He said he was in daily contact with his deputy at the theatre by telephone and had no fear about going back to work. "As soon as I can see ... I will go back and do the same work. I am not afraid."
Dressed head to toe in black and wearing large dark glasses, Filin walked into the auditorium at the Aachen University Clinic with an interpreter close at his side, and sat quietly as doctors discussed his treatment. He was led out by hospital staff afterward.
Dr Martin Hermel, an eye specialist, said that Filin suffered damage to the surface and inner parts of both eyes and had undergone several operations. He cautioned that Filin faces "complex and long-term treatment" that could take months rather than weeks.
Hermel said that he held out hope that Filin would "recover useable vision" to allow him to return to his professional duties. His left eye had shown some improvement, Hermel said. As for the right, which suffered more severe damage, "we cannot at this point make a statement about the prognosis for vision in this eye".
Filin was attacked in January by a masked man who splashed sulphuric acid on to his face. Pavel Dmitrichenko, a Bolshoi dancer who has been arrested on suspicion of organising the attack, told a Moscow court that he gave his blessing for attack but never expected the perpetrator to use acid and cause such harm to Filin.
Anatoly Iksanov, the Bolshoi theatre's general director, has accused the veteran principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze of inciting tensions in the theatre that led to the attack. Tsiskaridze, a fierce critic of Iksanov who is reported to aspire to the director's job, has rejected Iksanov's allegation.
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MIKE NOVA'S STARRED ITEMS
via World news: Russia | guardian.co.uk by on 3/15/13
The Bolshoi ballet's artistic director badly burned in an acid attack said on Friday he is "full of strength and faith" that he will eventually see well enough to return to work. Sergei Filin, swathed in a large black scarf and knitted hat to cover his burns, spoke at Aachen hospital in Germany, where doctors said one of his badly damaged eyes had shown some improvement and that they remained hopeful he would recover useful vision.
"I am full of strength and faith that I will recover what has been unjustly taken from me," Filin said as he thanked hospital staff for their help in treating his eyes and burned skin. He said he was not afraid of returning to work at the Bolshoi despite reports of rivalries that might have been the motivation for the attack.
He said he was in daily contact with his deputy at the theatre by telephone and had no fear about going back to work. "As soon as I can see ... I will go back and do the same work. I am not afraid."
Dressed head to toe in black and wearing large dark glasses, Filin walked into the auditorium at the Aachen University Clinic with an interpreter close at his side, and sat quietly as doctors discussed his treatment. He was led out by hospital staff afterward.
Dr Martin Hermel, an eye specialist, said that Filin suffered damage to the surface and inner parts of both eyes and had undergone several operations. He cautioned that Filin faces "complex and long-term treatment" that could take months rather than weeks.
Hermel said that he held out hope that Filin would "recover useable vision" to allow him to return to his professional duties. His left eye had shown some improvement, Hermel said. As for the right, which suffered more severe damage, "we cannot at this point make a statement about the prognosis for vision in this eye".
Filin was attacked in January by a masked man who splashed sulphuric acid on to his face. Pavel Dmitrichenko, a Bolshoi dancer who has been arrested on suspicion of organising the attack, told a Moscow court that he gave his blessing for attack but never expected the perpetrator to use acid and cause such harm to Filin.
Anatoly Iksanov, the Bolshoi theatre's general director, has accused the veteran principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze of inciting tensions in the theatre that led to the attack. Tsiskaridze, a fierce critic of Iksanov who is reported to aspire to the director's job, has rejected Iksanov's allegation.
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