Russia police: Lawyer who died in jail stole $230M

[November 15, 2010]  MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian police say a lawyer who was left to die in jail after exposing police corruption is a suspect in the theft of millions from the state.

Sergei Magnitsky died last year after pancreatitis he developed while in custody went untreated. He had been charged with tax evasion, linked to his defense of Hermitage Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar fund headed by a U.S.-born British investor.

Hermitage accuses Interior Ministry officers of illegally seizing assets it managed and using them to reclaim $230 million in taxes.

But, Interior Ministry investigators said Monday that Magnitsky stole the money, by filing tax forms illegally.

Magnitsky's case sparked uproar in the West, and contradicts Kremlin portrayals of the country as an investment haven.

[Associated Press]

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