Browder Tries to Silence Film Revealing $230Mln Tax Dodge Scheme in Russia

UK millionaire William Browder is trying to stop the showing of a documentary revealing his alleged involvement in a controversial scheme, US media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — William Browder, the UK millionaire of US origin, is trying to stop the showing of a documentary revealing his alleged involvement in a scheme that resulted in theft of some $230 million of Russian taxpayers' money as a result of tax evasion scheme, US media reported.

On Monday, the Newseum museum, located in Washington DC, is expected to show the documentary dubbed "The Magnitsky Act." The film focuses on Sergei Magnitsky, a tax and legal consultant for Browder's Hermitage Capital Management, and shows that Magnitsky's boss was involved in the multimillion tax evasion processes.

According to the Foreign Policy magazine, managers of the Newseum have already received demands from Browder's lawyers, as well as from Magnitsky's family to cancel the screening of the film.

The magazine added that this was not the first Browder's attempt to prevent the film from showing, as it had already been canceled in several European cinemas.

In 2013, Russia sentenced Browder in absentia to nine years in prison for tax evasion and for falsely claiming tax breaks for hiring disabled persons. The court also ruled that Magnitsky, who died in pretrial detention in 2010, developed and implemented a tax evasion scheme while working for the millionaire.

Browder has alleged that Magnitsky was arrested shortly after he discovered corruption schemes involving some officials and employees of the Russian Interior Ministry.