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Moscow Court Issues Warrant for Browder’s Arrest in Absentia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A Moscow court issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, for creating a criminal group, a Sputnik correspondent reported Friday.
Sputnik

"The court ruled to satisfy the request of the investigator and to choose a measure of restraint in the form of detention," judge Alexei Krivoruchko said.

According to the case file, Browder was charged in absentia for organizing a criminal group. The investigators announced his inclusion in the international wanted list.

READ MORE: New Criminal Case Launched in Russia Against William Browder — Prosecutors

In turn, Browder’s lawyer Alexander Antipov said that he would definitely appeal this ruling.

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In 2013, Russia sentenced Browder in absentia to nine years in prison for tax evasion. The court also ruled that Sergei Magnitsky, a tax and legal consultant for Hermitage Capital Management, who died in custody in Moscow in 2010, developed and implemented a tax evasion scheme while working for the businessman. Browder refuted the accusations, saying that he became a victim of a corruption scheme himself.

In February 2017, a Moscow court ruled to arrest Browder and his business partner Ivan Cherkasov, both charged with 4.2 billion rubles ($72.9 million) in unpaid taxes, in absentia.

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