This was the message given by airport security personnel to prospective traveler to USA, Mr. Bill Browder. Mr. Browder is an American/British citizen and a businessman of some repute. His visa was revoked because of a request came from Interpol upon a charge placed by-------the Kremlin. Now, how can this be?
The story has deep roots, going back several years when Mr. Browder went to Russya after the collapse of the former USSR. It was a time when privatization was the mantra of the new ruling class. Old national assets were to be sold off. Many businesses were liquidated; others were sold in stock offerings with the usual insiders among the first served. Mr. Browder was an astute investor representing an investment fund with a commission to invest at that time. He did well, well enough to catch the eye of some oligarchs who thought he was a bit too astute for their taste. He was then charged with tax evasion after he was presented a tax bill for $250 million dollars. He barely escaped the fate of others, many of whom had to languish in the local prison.
Mr. Browder wrote an informative book about his experiences, detailing the corruption that surrounds the Russyan government and the collusion of the politicians who approve of just who will be allowed to make money in the new post-Soviet era. The new country is somewhat smaller than the soviet version, shedding a number of -Stans, Belorussia, and, of course Ukraine. He joined other authors who chose to expose the dark underside of doing business in Russya after 1989. The book, Red Notice, joined two others by Peter Pomerantz and Glenn Greenwald is producing names and places where the Kremlin took over businesses utilizing the power of the state.
Mr. Browder was also instrumental in canvassing the U.S. Congress to penalize those Russyans who were directly responsible for the death while in prison of Sergei Magnitsky. The Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, which placed sanctions on a number of key Russyan officials who had Mr. Magnitsky arrested. He was charged with a variety of crimes; but his real crime was blowing the whistle on insider corruption at the highest levels. His death sparked members of the Obama administration to take a closer look at how the new Russyan economy was conducting business. As international oil prices collapsed, the economy tanked. Many Russyan nationals went abroad, not a few to the UK where they had stashed much of their coin.
So, bottom line, Mr. Browder will have to back pedal a bit, and the MI5 Group will fix things with his visa. It has been nothing more than an inconvenience, but it underscores the low level of harassment available to the Kremlin.
What now, Mr. Putin?
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