The Guardian: Russia hires British politicians to persecute Putin's enemies

Russia has hired a network of British politicians and consultants to help advance its "criminal interests" and "harass" Vladimir Putin's enemies in London, writes The Guardian., referring to the report on Russia by representatives of the lower house of the British Parliament.

Photo: kremlin.ru

In secret evidence presented to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC), campaigner and financier Bill Browder said Moscow was able to "infiltrate" British society using well-paid British intermediaries.

Some had “reason to know exactly what they were doing and for whom,” Browder said. Others “unwittingly work for the interests of the Russian state.”

Prospective mediators include politicians from both the Labor Party and the Conservative Party, former intelligence officials and diplomats, as well as leading public relations companies. Together they form what Browder calls the “Western Buffer Network”.

Browder’s testimony does not suggest that British citizens violated the law.

According to him, the Moscow regime uses these specialists to disguise its "confused" state and criminal interests. He uses them to attack Putin’s critics, “strengthen Russian propaganda and misinformation” and “to facilitate and conceal large-scale money-laundering operations."

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, called Browder’s statements false and “completely groundless.” According to Peskov, questions about corruption at the heart of the Russian state were "a great example of Russophobia in a maniac style."

With his permission, the Guardian publishes Browder's previously confidential evidence to the ISC. Behind closed doors, the committee conducted a two-year investigation into how the Kremlin is trying to influence and undermine British politics and society. His 50-page report was ready for release last November, before the election.

The prime minister was accused of refusing to publish it.

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Downing Street released the document after the election, arguing that the final document contained little new information and was overall grossly overestimated - although others who read it disagreed.

Opposition deputies said Browder’s testimony demonstrated the need to publish the report as soon as possible.

Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party SNP in Westminster, wrote a letter to Johnson a month ago asking for a schedule for the publication of a report that requires Downing Street to appoint a new inter-party committee of 9 members of parliament and the House of Lords. But almost 3 months after the election, this process is only in its early stages, and it will probably take at least several weeks before the report is published.

Browder was one of several expert witnesses invited to testify to members of parliament and the House of Lords. In September 2018, he submitted a 14-page statement that contained a series of recommendations. These include the creation of a roster of American-style individuals working for foreign interests, as well as additional resources for regulators, investigators, police, and prosecutors. He calls on the London Chamber of Registration to consider applications from companies related to the Russian money laundering scandals.

In an interview with the Guardian, Browder said: “Yes, there are employees of the Russian special services who work in the Russian embassy under diplomatic cover. What the government lacks is an understanding of the fact that there are all kinds of informal spy networks. There are Russian oligarchs who have a much greater influence on the security of this country. What is most shocking is that the Russian government indirectly hires British citizens to assist in its intelligence operations. ”

Browder claims that the Russian state and organized crime have actually merged. Money stolen from the budget and private companies is used to enrich senior officials, including Putin, and to finance “black operations and special projects,” he told ISC.

The Kremlin issued several Interpol warrants for Browder’s arrest and calls him a criminal, condemning in absentia for tax evasion and deliberate bankruptcy. Browder says he fell victim to the revenge of corrupt government officials. He denies all allegations.

The Browder Fund, Hermitage Capital Management, was once the largest foreign investor in the Russian market. He quarreled with the authorities after, as he said, called for the publication of information about companies in which Putin and his entourage have financial interests. In 2005, Russia deported him from Moscow.

Officials associated with the FSB spy agency stole $ 230 million in taxes paid by the fund to the Russian treasury, the newspaper writes. In 2009, his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in custody. Browder convinced the United States and several other Western governments to impose sanctions on senior officials allegedly involved in human rights abuses.

The Kremlin was furious and paid British firms to "advance the false fraud story." One of the alleged officials, Andrei Pavlov, made an unsuccessful attempt to exclude his name from the list of sanctions of the European Parliament by hiring the former Labor Prosecutor General, Lord Goldsmith, to lobby on his behalf. Browder claims that Goldsmith’s law office received £ 75 ($ 000 thousand).

Debevoise & Plimpton said it could not comment on confidential customer issues, but Pavlov denied wrongdoing. They added: “Everyone has the right to legal representation. Debevoise provides legal representation in accordance with the best traditions of the integrity and integrity of the profession. We will continue to fearlessly defend the interests of all our clients. ”

Pavlov used the services of GPW, a business intelligence company run by former MI6 officer Andrew Fulton. Browder says the GPW briefing talked about gathering information on him. Fulton, chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, left GPW in 2017. Its managing director, Philip Worman, said he could not comment on “any aspect of our work.”

Fulton's former GPW colleague Andrew Wordsworth said Pavlov has the right to know the facts of his case: “Sanctions against individuals are a pretty draconian remedy. Some people claim that before you ruin people's lives, they must be able to protect themselves. ”

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In his testimony, Browder claims that Pavlov also hired Linton Crosby's communications firm, paying her £ 45 ($ 000 thousand).

However, CTF denies Browder's allegations, claiming that Goldsmith's law firm hired a separate entity, CTF Corporate & Financial Communications (CTFCFC), to "investigate the EU sanctions situation." CTFCFC was advised by a law firm and there was no contact with Pavlov. “This was the extent of our involvement and to attempt to suggest otherwise would be completely untrue,” the statement said. Companies House records show Crosbie is a director of CTFCFC.

There is no suggestion that Crosby personally worked or knew about the EU sanctions work being carried out by the CTFCFC until it appeared in the media. “Lynton Crosby was working exclusively on the general election campaign for the Conservative Party at the time and had no involvement with clients other than the Conservative Party,” he said, adding that Crosby never met or worked with Goldsmith or Debevoise.

Browder also names British individuals who have encountered offshore companies used in Magnitsky’s alleged scam and other cases. UK citizens act as nominee directors of opaque firms in countries through which billions of dollars have been laundered, including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Cyprus and Latvia.

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