Billionaire William Browder, who is the basis for the creation of the Global Magnitsky Act, speaks exclusively for NOVA. The businessman also commented on the sanctions imposed on our country. Browder believes that they cast a dark shadow over Bulgaria and show that our country cannot deal with corruption alone.
Here is the history of the American law called “Magnetic”. In 2005, billionaire William Browder was denied entry into Russia, deported to the United Kingdom, and declared a threat to Russian national security. The businessman instructed his friend and lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, to investigate the purpose of the attack. He was magnetically arrested, after which he testified about the corruption scheme and died in prison. In his honor, his name is given to US law, which is designed to fight corruption globally. William Browder spoke to Simeon Belev on NOVA Week.
Simeon Belev: There once lived a man who thought that the global world was open for business. This sentence would be a good start to your story, but does the world really look that way?
– Bill Browder: A world that is open to business creates opportunities for great things to happen. At the same time, however, it could create opportunities for bad things to happen. My story is the story of my going to Russia in 1990. I set up an investment fund there and everything seemed perfectly normal. Subsequently, however, I witnessed corruption in the same companies in which I had invested. I discovered them and was subsequently expelled from the country. I became a victim of a very complex and ugly scam. I was betrayed by the authorities.
In 2005, 10 years after you started doing business in Russia, you were blacklisted in that country, and you were considered a threat to national security. Were you surprised then?
– Yes, it was a big surprise. I did not expect something like this, as I was the largest investor in the country. Besides, I brought corruption to light in Russia, I thought I was doing the state a favor. When I was stopped at the border, at the airport in Sheremetyevo, I was detained for 15 hours. Then I was sent back to London and I just couldn’t believe what was happening.
What’s really going on?
– What really happened is that the people whose corrupt actions I revealed, the managers of many Russian companies, were quite strongly connected with the Kremlin. Specifically in my case – I showed how they steal money, I did it through the media, through newspapers like the Financial Times, the Wallstreet Journal, etc. These people had a very strong connection with the Kremlin, and their main goal was to stop my revelations. They had several options – to kill me, which at the time would have been a very reckless act, or to arrest me and put me in jail. If they had chosen the latter, they too would have become hostages to the situation. Their easiest chance to deal with me was to expel me from the country and declare me a threat to national security. Then I realized that much worse things could happen to me. I took two steps – I sold everything I had in Russia – quite quickly and without fuss. The second thing I did was evacuate my entire team, take it out of the country. I hoped that Russia would have no intentions towards me and would allow me to continue my life in peace. It turned out, however, that they actually had far bigger plans for me.
You are the man whose war with Russia led to the arrest and possibly the death of Sergei Magnitsky. How does it feel to lose one of your closest partners, one of your closest friends?
“It feels awful.” Sergei Magnitsky was my lawyer. After I was expelled from Russia, my offices were attacked. Sergei investigated the attacks and found that after them, the authorities saw certain documents, which they later used to steal 230 million in taxes that my company paid to Russia. He testified against the representatives of these authorities. They did horrible things to him. After about six months of torture, Sergei lost about 20 kilograms and was experiencing terrible abdominal pain. He was even diagnosed with pancreatitis and gallstones. He was denied adequate medical care and on the night of 16 November 2009 he fell into critical condition. Instead of taking care of him, they moved him to an isolated cell, tied him to a bed, and beat him until he died. I found out about his death the next morning. That was the most devastating news I’ve ever heard. Sergei Magnitsky was killed because he became my lawyer. If he hadn’t agreed to work with me, he would probably still be alive right now. It is sad because this man left a wife and two children.
Do you have any new information about Magnitsky’s death, information that differs from what is available so far?
– What I did after the murder of Sergei was to organize a serious investigation. There were facts from Sergei himself, who turned out to have recorded everything in the form of testimony. On top of that, we had information from the Moscow Committee, which is a non-governmental organization that investigates possible crimes by the government. In addition, we had information from the President of Russia, who at the time was Dmitry Medvedev. They all came to the same conclusion, stating that Sergei had been tortured and killed. He was denied any right to live. As a result of the disclosure of this information, the European Court of Human Rights issued an opinion that the Russian state had killed Sergei Magnitsky. He was one of those people who could do ten things at a time, while others could only do one. He really was an extraordinary person. Not only as a lawyer, but also as a person. Sergei Magnitsky was a man who really believed in the rule of law, he believed in his idealistic views. He believed that Russia should become a modern and free place where people could live in peace.
What went wrong and how did you go from Russia’s biggest investor to the Kremlin’s biggest enemy? Your relationship with Vladimir Putin has been quite dynamic over the years, hasn’t it?
– Not exactly. I have never met Vladimir Putin in person. I never talked to him. I can say that we have overlapping interests. In the beginning, when we fought together with the oligarchs because they were trying to steal power from him, and I fought the oligarchs who stole money from me, but Putin’s fight with the oligarchy ended when he arrested Russia’s greatest oligarch – a man named Mikhail Khudorkovsky. He took him to court and allowed television cameras to film Russia’s richest man sitting in a cage. After the murder of Sergei Magnitsky, I embarked on a campaign to find justice for his death. At that moment, I realized that if I could not find justice inside Russia, I had to seek it outside that country. I looked at the whole story again and concluded that it was a crime for money, a crime for $ 230 million. I realized that the people who stole this money did not keep it in Russia, they kept it in the West – in bank accounts in New York and London, in properties in the South of France, and so on. I went to Washington and shared the story of Sergei Magnitsky with two senators, a Democrat and a Republican, John McCain. I asked them if we could block the assets and visas of those responsible for the murder. They said yes. That’s how we created the Magnitsky law. The reason why Putin hates me so much is because the Magnitsky Act became law on December 14, 2012 and put all his money at risk. I believe he values money more than human lives.
An interesting fact about the connection between Russia and the United States. In July 2017, you testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is about possible interference in the presidential election overseas. Was there one?
– I have first-hand information, because the law “Magnitsky” paid attention to this case. What we learned was that on June 9, 2016, a Russian lawyer, a government official, met with Donald Trump Jr. and two others. This meeting took place before Trump was elected president. The purpose of the meeting was to check whether, if Trump is elected, he will support the repeal of the Magnitsky Act.
In July 2018, during a press conference with then-US President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin stated that you had funded Hillary Clinton’s election campaign with an impressive $ 400 million. How would you respond to this accusation?
– The statement is an absolute fabrication. It was so absurd that the next day they corrected themselves and came out with a statement that the amount was not 400 million, but 400 thousand. But I must emphasize that the real amount is 0. I did not give Hillary Clinton a single penny. But the reason for throwing these big numbers is because Putin wanted to get Trump to hand me over to the authorities. And he knew that Donald Trump hated Hillary Clinton, so by making up this story that I gave Hillary Clinton $ 400 million, he would be angry enough to agree. Because during this press conference, Putin also demanded that I be handed over by Donald Trump to the Russians in order to be killed like Sergei Magnitsky.
You said that President Putin is the greatest Russian oligarch, as well as the richest man in the world. What exactly do you mean?
– What I know about Vladimir Putin is that in Russia there is no such thing as independent wealth. When you see a Russian oligarch with a network of about $ 10 or $ 20 million, that amount is not entirely theirs. This oligarch holds half the amount for Vladimir Putin as his confidant. It comes down to incredibly large sums – bigger than those of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos. And the reason for these large sums is that Putin gets a share of everything. He’s like a mob boss – he takes part of everything. As a result of mafia confiscation schemes, Putin has become the richest man in the world. He wants to stay in power at all costs to save his money and save himself from going to jail. He probably has to stay in power if he wants to stay alive.
Have you been in contact with Bulgarian investors or politicians over the years? What do you know about Bulgaria?
– I have not had any contact with Bulgarian investors or politicians. I am not very familiar with Bulgaria, except for the recent actions taken by the United States – the inclusion of some Bulgarians in the lists of convicted under the law “Magnitsky”
I would also like to discuss sanctions against Bulgaria. What do they mean for our country?
– They mean a lot. First, the fact that the United States considered it necessary to intervene in corruption schemes in Bulgaria shows that there is a serious problem in Bulgaria in curbing corruption. This is clearly a rather unusual situation, which requires such extreme measures against an EU member state, a NATO member. And a country where, in theory, there is the rule of law.
Will the sanctions have any form of political or strategic consequences for Bulgaria?
– I think that the sanctions cast a dark shadow over Bulgaria – they show that the country can not deal with its problems alone and therefore the United States must intervene. I believe that this raises serious questions about the government of Bulgaria – why this happened and what will be done in the future to improve the situation. It is well known that Bulgaria reaches the highest levels of corruption among EU member states. US action has again emphasized this. Questions have been raised that need to be answered immediately and commented on by the leaders of your country.
Where do you live now? Is anyone trying to bother you?
“They bother me all the time.” I am constantly threatened by the Russian government. They’re trying to arrest me. I can’t travel freely without worrying about being arrested. I receive threats of kidnapping. I am being tried in full color because of delegates from the Russian government. My life is a constant struggle. I want to emphasize that I was expelled in 2005, 16 years have passed. And the bad feelings that Vladimir Putin has for me continue to this day.
Is the idea of the so-called “global world” a myth? Is the Cold War going on?
– I think we are experiencing a new Cold War today. Before the Cold War, it was between communism and capitalism. The current one is between crime and legality. We have dictators like Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko and others who want to live in a lawless world and take their lawlessness out. On the other side we have the civilized world. And the civilized world must stand up and fight against it.
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