In Austria, Raiffeisen investigate the involvement of the case Magnitskiy

Austrian authorities are investigating the possible involvement of bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank Austria (RZB) to the fraudulent scheme of theft from the Russian budget $ 230 million as a result of the investigation which has died in jail a lawyer investment fund Hermitage Serey Magnitskyi. Suspicions of the Austrian RZB investigators called the relationship with the Russian bank "Universal Savings Bank (" UBS "), through which could be derived at least part of the stolen funds, writes The Financial Times.

In response to a complaint Hermitage Austrian prosecutors in late June ordered an initial inquiry in respect of RZB and a number of individuals involved in transactions with UBS and another bank. According to the prosecutor, Michael Haller, the authorities intend to establish why, in conducting these transactions was not filed notification of a suspected money laundering, why not test was conducted by the origin of funds, as well as their possible criminal origin.

The need for such testing should be dictated by the fact that the owner of "CSS" is a Russian businessman Dmitry Klyuev, who in 2005 was held on charges of attempting to steal the shares of Mikhailovsky GOK and the result was found guilty and received a suspended sentence. In June 2008, the license "CSS" was canceled in connection with the decision of members of the bank on its voluntary liquidation.

RZB totally denies any involvement in money laundering and claims with reference to the results of an internal investigation, that in relations with "UBS" everything was clean. In particular, RZB insists on his innocence "or to convert Russian rubles and U.S. dollars ... not to transfer these funds. Comment on relationships with their customers RZB has refused, citing the Austrian banking laws. Prosecutors said that RZB is not accused in this investigation, and its purpose is to establish the feasibility facie case on the facts provided by the Hermitage.

Magnitskyi, who was arrested in November 2008 on charges of tax evasion with the organization, died a year later in a remand prison. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, 37-year-old Magnitskyi died of cardiovascular failure. However, his friends and colleagues argue that it "brought to death" in the detention facility "embezzlers in uniform", the crime of which he opened. Lawyer found that in mid-2007, MUP helped steal the three companies owned by Hermitage, deleting the originals of their statutory and financial documents. Then, in collusion with the tax inspections "kaznokardy in uniform" for one day stolen from the budget of 5.4 billion rubles. Paid by companies of Hermitage in the form of taxes.

Magnitskiy death sparked widespread public outcry, but the case of his death was opened only after the direct orders of President Dmitry Medvedev. This result at first said he did not find grounds to initiate proceedings against members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Investigations Committee of the Russian Interior Ministry, who investigated the case Magnitskiy, but later reversed the decision of the UPC to dismiss the case. In July, were published material, which alleged that the investigators on the case Magnitskiy - Maj. Pavel Karpov and Lt. Col. Artem Kuznetsov - after the theft of 5.4 billion rubles. began to lead a life not commensurate with their salaries. In early August, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev ordered the department's own security (DRC) to deal with accusations against these investigators.

In late August, Daily Telegraph reported that the names of several high-ranking representatives of the Russian law enforcement bodies were in the black lists of leading Western banks because of possible involvement in the death of Magnitskiy. They were in the database politically important persons (Politically Exposed Persons, PEP) organization World-Check, collecting from public sources on the potential corrupt in the world.