Putin, Oligarchs May Have Stolen $1 Trillion From Russian People, Browder Says

Bill Browder, a political activist and former hedge fund manager, on Tuesday suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin and some Russian oligarchs have stolen a significant amount of money from the people of Russia.

Speaking at a Manhattan event in celebration of the publication of his book “Freezing Order,” Browder said he believes Putin and Russian oligarchs stole at least $1 trillion dollars from the people after the Soviet Union fell.

“And that was money that was supposed to be spent on health care and education, roads and services,” Browder said, as quoted by Yahoo News.

“Everyone tries to think about Russia as a sovereign state and Putin as a leader acting in national interest,” he told Yahoo News.

“You think you can apply political science to Russia. You need to apply criminal science. You need to be a criminologist to understand Russia. People don’t go into government to serve the country. They go into government to steal money.”

Bill is the grandson of American communist leader Earl Browder and made billions through the Hermitage Capital Management established in 1996. The former hedge fund manager was once the largest foreign investor in Russia before he turned into a Putin critic.

His book “Freezing Order” details how he became a thorn in the Russian president’s side following his attempts to expose the corruption in Russia. Browder’s attorney Sergei Magnitsky helped him uncover an alleged multi-million dollar tax fraud scheme that involved Russian officials and Putin. Magnitsky was later accused of fraud by Kremlin and was tortured and killed in 2009.

Magnitsky’s name was affixed in a number of sanction bills passed by U.S. Congress, including The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which punishes those who commit human rights abuses.

Browder said he realized how far Putin was willing to go to pursue people that Russia perceives as enemies of the state. Apart from being a Putin critic, Browden now works as an investor and a human rights campaigner.

The publication of Browder’s second book comes nearly a week after he testified in Washington during a hearing on the Enablers Act. The bill would further tighten the existing rules around money laundering.