Hermitage Capital chief executive Bill Browder has come off the international wanted list as Interpol refused to help Russia with the “predominantly political” prosecution of the ex-colleague of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
“The CCF studied a complaint brought before it by Mr Browder and concluded that the case was of a predominantly political nature and recommended that all information be deleted from INTERPOL’s databases,” the international police agency said in a statement.
“Immediately upon receipt of the CCF’s decision, the INTERPOL General Secretariat followed their recommendation,” it said.
Browder, who did business in Russia for a decade but left the country after getting on the wrong side of its law enforcement system and has lived in Britain since then, has been put by Russia on the international wanted list for allegedly stealing shares from Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Hermitage, which is a London-based investment fund, claims the accusation is a frame-up.
Russia is simultaneously pursuing a tax evasion action against Browder, litigation in which Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail in 2009, is, posthumously, his co-defendant.
Magnitsky, who was an external auditor for Hermitage, was arrested on a tax evasion charge after publicly accusing senior officials of stealing $230m from the Russian state through a tax rebate scheme. A seriously ailing man, he died in a remand prison a year later after being denied essential medical assistance.
His death has been a permanent irritant in Russia’s relations with the West.
Shortly before Interpol cleared Browder, the German Justice Ministry turned down a Russian request for help in seeking the Hermitage chief’s arrest, while Norwegian Foreign Minister Barth Eide called for UN Security Council sanctions against Russian officials blamed for Magnitsky’s plight.
Interpol said it had “informed all member countries which had received the diffusion in relation to Mr Browder of the CCF’s findings and recommendation.”
“INTERPOL has no further comment to make on this individual case,” the agency said.
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