Anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky might have died three years ago, but the criminal case against him is still active, moving to the Prosecutor General's Office for review.
The case, which accuses Magnitsky of helping his client Hermitage Capital to evade taxes, was to be passed to the prosecutor's office Monday, RIA-Novosti reported, citing an unidentified official close to the investigation.
Interior Ministry investigators finished their inquiry on Nov. 2, and prosecutors now will have to decide whether to forward the case to court.
Russian law allows the prosecution of people who have died.
Magnitsky was arrested by Interior Ministry investigators in 2008 after he accused them of defrauding the government of millions of dollars, and he died a year later in a pretrial detention center. Magnitsky had suffered from health problems, and he was beaten by prison guards shortly before he died. The death and lack of any convictions has led the U.S. and Britain to ban dozens of officials directly implicated in the case.
Dmitry Kratov, the former deputy head of the Butyrka pretrial detention center where Magnitsky was held for most of his arrest, is currently standing trial on charges of negligence.
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