Russians accused of Swiss money laundering

Russian tax officials are being investigated for alleged money laundering in Switzerland, the federal prosecutor’s office has confirmed.

The Swiss money laundering reporting office received a complaint from legal representatives of an investment fund run by Hermitage Capital Management, a company based in Guernsey that specializes in Russian markets.

The company’s head, Bill Browder, who works out of London, said Switzerland has frozen the accounts of the husband of one of the Russian tax officials suspected of financial fraud.

Hermitage, founded in 1996 by Browder and the late Edmond Safra (a Brazilian who established a bank in Switzerland), claims that it is the victim of a fraud perpetrated by Russian police and tax officials.

One former employee was killed in mysterious circumstances after revealing improper financial dealings.

Other Hermitage associates have reportedly been attacked and robbed, with information stolen from the company’s Moscow offices.

Browder, a supporter of former Russian president Vladimir Putin, was famously blacklisted by the Russian government as a threat to national security, reportedly because he interfered with the flow of money to bureaucrats and business accomplices with links to Putin.

Source: WRS