Correction appended:
The mother of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in custody in 2009 while awaiting trial on tax evasion charges, has asked the Interior Ministry to close a new case against her son.
"The illegal actions of officials have inflicted unnecessary pain and suffering upon me, which I consider to be another attempt by the investigators to make me give up my position of achieving justice for my dead son and bringing to justice those who participated in his illegal prosecution and murder," Natalya Magnitskaya said, Interfax reported.
Earlier this month, the Hermitage Capital fund — where Magnitsky worked before his death — released a statement saying officials had opened a new case against the deceased lawyer for the alleged embezzlement of almost 5.5 billion rubles ($158.4 million). However, officials denied the allegations, saying it was not "practice to bring court cases against dead people."
In July 2013, Magnitsky was convicted posthumously of more than $15 million in taxes along with Hermitage Capital CEO William Browder.
An earlier version of this story said that Magnitsky was awaiting trial on embezzlement charges. They were in fact tax evasion charges. The earlier version also said that Magnitsky was convicted posthumously of embezzlement, whereas the conviction was actually for avoiding paying taxes.
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