Britain imposes sanctions against 14 Russians in the case of Magnitsky

The UK has put 14 Russian citizens on the sanctions list associated with the Magnitsky case and the alleged embezzlement of $230 million from the Russian budget, the press service of the British Foreign Office reports.

The restrictions, in particular, included Artem Kuznetsov, former deputy HEAD of the Department of Tax Crimes of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (a criminal case against Magnitsky was initiated on his initiative); former Interior Ministry investigator Pavel Karpov, who handled the case; Olga Stepanova, ex-head of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate No. 28 for Moscow, and her ex-husband Vladlen Stepanov (the British authorities consider them to be one of the participants in the scheme for the return of VAT from the budget and the withdrawal of funds abroad).

In addition, investigator of the Moscow prosecutor's office Stanislav Gordievsky, head of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate No. 25 for Moscow Elena Khimina, ex-investigator of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs Oleg Urzhumtsev, lawyers Andrey Pavlov and Yulia Mayorova, directors of commercial structures Gennady Plaksin, Dmitry Klyuev and Alexei Sheshenya, businessmen Vyacheslav Khlebnikov and Viktor Markelov. British authorities consider them involved in VAT refund fraud and corruption, as well as in the Magnitsky case.

The sanctions were introduced in accordance with the law on combating money laundering, adopted by London in 2018. it provides for restrictions against organizations and individuals whom the British authorities consider to be involved in corruption.