Russia's Interior Ministry seeks the arrest of Hermitage Capital partner Ivan Cherkesov

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Russia’s interior is seeking the arrest of Hermitage Capital partner Ivan Cherkesov just four months after the death of the firm’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in custody.

The London-based hedge fund firm claimed the same police officer, whose investigation led to the scandalous death of Magnitsky, is responsible for the case.

“Major Silchenko is the same Interior Ministry officer who was responsible for the investigation and 12-month detention without trial of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky,”  Hermitage said in a statement released yesterday.

Hermitage said it had received a copy of a request by Silchenko for a Moscow court to arrest  Cherkesov, a 42-year-old Russian national based in London, in absentia.

Cherkesov is wanted on suspicion of underpaying dividend-withholding axes by a Hermitage-related firm that he used to run, an accusation that Hermitage denied.

Magnitsky, 37, died on November 16 in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre while awaiting trial for conspiracy. He was arrested almost a year prior after accusing senior officers in the Interior Ministry of taking part in the theft of companies owned by Hermitage and HSBC.  He was refused bail and spent almost a year in prison, during which time he was denied medical treatment and the right to see his family.

“The officers responsible for Magnitsky’s death are now trying to find another hostage,” Hermitage added in its statement.

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