Gaia
31st July 2017, 16:53
With everything that happened last week in Washington, the hearing of William Browder, CEO of the investment fund Hermitage Capital, before the Senate judicial commission went largely unnoticed. Yet it has allowed us to hear an explosive testimony that could explain why Vladimir Putin and his regime have relied so much on Donald Trump.
At the head of its fund, Browder was for a time the largest foreign investor in Russia. However, he became persona non grata in the country in 2006. According to the British weekly The Economist, the Kremlin did not appreciate its interventions that threatened the flow of money "to corrupt bureaucrats and their accomplices in the business world".
One thing is certain: Browder strongly encouraged the Obama administration to pass the Magnitsky law, named after its former lawyer, who died under nebulous circumstances in a Moscow prison in 2009 after conducting an investigation revealing the fraudulent actions of Russian officials. US law has imposed economic sanctions on Russian officials suspected of being involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky.
During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Browder stated that Putin's main objective was the repeal of the Magnitsky Act and the lifting of sanctions that prevented him from accessing his billions of dollars deposited in banks international. I quote an excerpt from the testimony of the British-American financier (see the video on this post):
"I believe that Vladimir Putin is the richest man in the world. I think his fortune is $ 200 billion. This money is stored in banks around the world, in the United States and elsewhere. The purpose of Putin's regime is to commit terrible crimes to get this money, and he does not want this money frozen. He is therefore personally subject to the Magnitsky law. It's a very personal issue, very venal, and that's why he's so concerned. "
During his testimony, Browder spoke at length about the role of Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in securing the repeal of the Magnitsky law. Veselnitskaya, who met Donald Trump son, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, works directly for the Kremlin, according to the financier. The lawyer told the media that she had approached the program of adoption of Russian children by American couples.
Let us remember that Russia ended this program in retaliation for the promulgation of the Magnitsky law in 2012. So when the Russians talk about adoption, it is an euphemism for the sanctions imposed on Russian officials.
It should be noted that Trump himself admitted that Putin had spoken to him of the "adoption program" during their second one-on-one meeting in Hamburg.
Of course, Putin could not have foreseen that his plan to help Trump would turn against him to some extent. Being suspicious of the US president's complacency with Russia, Congress has just adopted new sanctions against Putin's country.
Sources :
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bill-browders-testimony-to-the-senate-judiciary-committee/534864/
https://www.c-span.org/video/?431852-1/william-browder-overturning-magnitsky-act-putins-top-priority
UrO_VKrVHRg
In short terms :
The Magnitsky affair has put Moscow and Washington at loggerheads, casting a spotlight on corruption in Russia
Russian high-ranking officers steal (fraud and sale of public services)
The property of their country
They invest this money abroad
Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky discovers the trick
He imprisons him, He dies in prison, his death is suspected and denounced
Some countries freeze Russian money for human rights violations
Russia replied to this sanction by abolishing the
countries that retain their money
Talking about adoption is about talking about all the money they can not get back
When the Kremlin says ''adoptions'' It means ''sanctions''
At the head of its fund, Browder was for a time the largest foreign investor in Russia. However, he became persona non grata in the country in 2006. According to the British weekly The Economist, the Kremlin did not appreciate its interventions that threatened the flow of money "to corrupt bureaucrats and their accomplices in the business world".
One thing is certain: Browder strongly encouraged the Obama administration to pass the Magnitsky law, named after its former lawyer, who died under nebulous circumstances in a Moscow prison in 2009 after conducting an investigation revealing the fraudulent actions of Russian officials. US law has imposed economic sanctions on Russian officials suspected of being involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky.
During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Browder stated that Putin's main objective was the repeal of the Magnitsky Act and the lifting of sanctions that prevented him from accessing his billions of dollars deposited in banks international. I quote an excerpt from the testimony of the British-American financier (see the video on this post):
"I believe that Vladimir Putin is the richest man in the world. I think his fortune is $ 200 billion. This money is stored in banks around the world, in the United States and elsewhere. The purpose of Putin's regime is to commit terrible crimes to get this money, and he does not want this money frozen. He is therefore personally subject to the Magnitsky law. It's a very personal issue, very venal, and that's why he's so concerned. "
During his testimony, Browder spoke at length about the role of Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in securing the repeal of the Magnitsky law. Veselnitskaya, who met Donald Trump son, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, works directly for the Kremlin, according to the financier. The lawyer told the media that she had approached the program of adoption of Russian children by American couples.
Let us remember that Russia ended this program in retaliation for the promulgation of the Magnitsky law in 2012. So when the Russians talk about adoption, it is an euphemism for the sanctions imposed on Russian officials.
It should be noted that Trump himself admitted that Putin had spoken to him of the "adoption program" during their second one-on-one meeting in Hamburg.
Of course, Putin could not have foreseen that his plan to help Trump would turn against him to some extent. Being suspicious of the US president's complacency with Russia, Congress has just adopted new sanctions against Putin's country.
Sources :
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bill-browders-testimony-to-the-senate-judiciary-committee/534864/
https://www.c-span.org/video/?431852-1/william-browder-overturning-magnitsky-act-putins-top-priority
UrO_VKrVHRg
In short terms :
The Magnitsky affair has put Moscow and Washington at loggerheads, casting a spotlight on corruption in Russia
Russian high-ranking officers steal (fraud and sale of public services)
The property of their country
They invest this money abroad
Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky discovers the trick
He imprisons him, He dies in prison, his death is suspected and denounced
Some countries freeze Russian money for human rights violations
Russia replied to this sanction by abolishing the
countries that retain their money
Talking about adoption is about talking about all the money they can not get back
When the Kremlin says ''adoptions'' It means ''sanctions''