EU financial intel body takes up Magnitsky affair

By Andrei Skvarsky.

The European Commission has launched an investigation into the laundering of money stolen from Russian tax authorities in an alleged monumental scam uncovered {{{?}}} by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer for British investment fund Hermitage Capital who died in a Moscow jail in 2009.

The commission asked for such a probe at a meeting on February 7 of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU.net), a platform for regular meetings of anti-corruption experts from EU interior ministries that operates an IT data exchange network, EUObserver.com said.

FIU plans a follow-up meeting before the summer.

Meanwhile, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Austria and Finland have been trying to trace some of the $230m that Magnitsky accused senior Russian officials of embezzling from the state.

According to EUObserver.com, it is questionable that Moldova will get very far with its inquiry because of the dubious reputation of the head of its National Anti-Corruption Centre, Viorel Chetraru.

Magnitsky was arrested on a tax evasion charge after exposing the alleged fraud. A man suffering from serious diseases, he died in a remand prison after being denied essential medical assistance. Human rights activists and Hermitage have claimed he was beaten with batons shortly before dying.

No one has been convicted in connection with his death.

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