A lawyer jailed on charges of helping William Browder's Hermitage investment fund evade taxes died in a Moscow detention center's hospital, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old father of two, died 9:50 p.m. Monday of apparent toxic shock and heart failure, said Irina Dudukina, spokeswoman for the investigative committee of the Interior Ministry.
Interior Ministry investigators had accused Magnitsky, a partner with the Firestone Duncan auditing firm, of being directly involved in developing and executing a scheme in which Browder purportedly evaded more than 100 million rubles ($3.25 million) in taxes in 2002.
The tax evasion case was opened after Browder accused senior Interior Ministry officials of stealing more than $230 million in budget money.
Magnitsky's lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov told The Moscow Times that he had been prevented from entering the Butyrskaya jail to visit his client Monday by prison officials who cited Magnitsky's poor health.
Magnitsky was diagnosed with pancreas problems in August, and his lawyers say he has been denied proper medical assistance during his 11 months in custody.
Moscow's Tverskoi District Court on Thursday ruled to prolong Magnitsky's detention until Nov. 26.
"He was very nervous that day after the judge turned down all our petitions," Kharitonov said. "He was shaking, I've never seen him in such condition."
Magnitsky complained at a court hearing in September about “inhumane conditions” in the Butyrskaya prison, including the absence of a toilet, hot water and windows.
One petition that the judge denied from Kharitonov in September was for a doctor to examine his client. “Sergei needs a medical examination because he is suffering chest pains, but all our requests result in worse conditions for him,” Kharitonov told The Moscow Times at the time.
Russian law enforcement agencies last month added Browder, head of the London-based Hermitage Fund, to an international wanted list on suspicion of participating in the tax-evasion scheme with Magnitsky's help.
Browder has been barred from Russia over national security concerns since 2005. He had battled Gazprom over inflated corporate spending and with Kremlin-linked oil major Surgutneftegaz over its murky ownership schemes. Hermitage says five of its lawyers have fled Russia to avoid being detained like Magnitsky, while criminal cases have been opened against two fund managers who also have left Russia.
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