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Sergei Magnitsky. Photo By VOA –

Top 10 Interesting Facts About Sergei Magnitsky 

Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky was a Ukrainian-born Russian lawyer, accountant, and tax advisor. He was working for a law firm that was representing Hermitage Capital Management a company whose Founder and CEO is British financier, William Browder. 

He is known for exposing massive fraud committed by Russian government officials that involved the theft of US $230 million of state taxes.  

Here are the top 10 interesting facts about Sergei Magnitsky. 

1. Sergei Was Born in Ukraine 

Sergei was born on 8th April 1972 in Odessa, Ukraine. He grew up in Ukraine till he emigrated to Southern Russia with his family at the age of nine years. 

He was a bright boy who did very well in class. His academic abilities were so good that he won the Republican Physics and Mathematics Olympiad when he was 15 years.  

At 18, he moved to Moscow and attended the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. 

2. He Was a Son, Husband, and Father  

Sergei Magnitsky. Photo By VOA –

Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky was the son of Natalya Magnitskaya. He was married to Natasha  Zharikova who was a lawyer too. They had met during their high school years. Sergei and Natasha had two sons. 

3. Sergei Was The Whistleblower That Discovered The Tax Refund Fraud 

Sergei Magnitsky was an auditor at the Moscow law firm Firestone Duncan, whose owner was Jamison Firestone. He worked with Firestone Duncan’s client Hermitage Capital Management, an investment advisory firm accused of tax evasion and tax fraud by the Russian Interior Ministry.  

While working for Hermitage Capital Management, Sergei discovered corruption and misconduct by Russian government officials. The officials had managed to get a $230 million tax refund from the government. 

The criminals used the documents to forge and change the ownership of the Hermitage organization. Three companies that belonged to Hermitage Capital had been taken. That is how the rogue officials effected the tax refund fraud. 

4. He Was Arrested, Detained, and Tortured 

Sergei’s investigation and testimony implicated the police, the judiciary, tax officials, bankers, and the Russian mafia. Most of the Hermitage staff left Russia, fearing for their lives, but Magnitsky remained in Moscow to work on the fraud case. 

At first, all the implicated parties dismissed his claims. However, Sergei’s investigations that Hermitage was a victim of and not a perpetrator of fraud was eventually validated when Hermitage contacted the Russian government with the findings of its investigation.  

Rather than opening a case against the police and the thieves, the Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Magnitsky. He was accused of colluding with Hermitage. In November 2008, he was arrested and interrogated.  

Sergei was held in the notorious Butyrka pre-trial detention center for almost a year where he described raw sewage flooding the floor of his cell. He was tortured and repeatedly pressured to withdraw his allegations and his family denied access to see him. 

5. Sergei Died In Custody 

Magnitsky’s grave is at Preobrazhenskoy Cemetery in Moscow. Photo by Dmitry Rozhkov –

On 16th November 2009, having been in custody for 358 Days without trial because his pre-trial detention had been extended several times, Magnitsky died at 37 years. He had lost 40 pounds in weight and become seriously ill. 

He had complained of worsening stomach pain for five days before his death and had been denied medical attention. The authorities said the cause of his death was gallstones, and heart failure that was brought by pancreatitis and a blocked gall bladder. 

The post-mortem examination showed numerous bruises and wounds on Sergei’s legs and hands. The report said his death was caused by “traumatic application of the blunt hard object (objects) as confirmed by abrasions, ecchymomas, blood effusions into the soft tissues” 

6. His Death Caused Public Outrage 

Sergei Magnitsky’s death caused public outrage and sparked discussion on the need to improve prison healthcare and reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial in detention prisons. 

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on complaints filed by Magnitsky before he died, his wife Natalya, and his mother about his treatment in prison. This intensified international attention to the matter.  

60 officials believed to be connected to Magnitsky’s death were banned from entering the European Union, while the Parliament of Canada resolved to deny visas to and freeze the Canadian assets of allegedly involved officials.  

The US stated that dozens of Russian officials were barred from entering the United States due to their involvement in the death of Magnitsky. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry described these resolutions as “an attempt to pressure the investigators and interfere in the internal affairs of another state” in return, the country banned, among other things, Americans from adopting Russian children. 

7. Sergei Was Tried Posthumously 

Russia went ahead and gave a posthumous trial of Magnitsky. In July 2013, they found him guilty of tax evasion. His posthumous trial was the first in Russian Federation. The court also found Browder former Magnitsky client guilty of evading tax of $17 million.      

8. The Magnitsky Law Was Adopted By A lot Of Countries  

Sergei Magnitsky. Photo By VOA –

Mr. Bill Browder, the owner of the Hermitage, has been leading the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign which seeks to impose targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and highly corrupt officials. 

The Global Magnitsky Act (GMA) also allows US authorities to pursue human rights violation cases anywhere in the world.  

Its application was seen in the case of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and individuals who were connected with the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.   

Other countries like Canada, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have also passed the law. The EU is initiating a new Magnitsky law for those breaking human rights as a global initiative. The Baltic states, the European Union, and Australia 

Many countries have passed their versions of the Magnitsky Act.   

9. Sergei Has Been Awarded After His Death

The Allard Prize award. Photo By Martin Dee –

For his Integrity and bravery, he was posthumously awarded ‘Honorable Mention’ in 2015 at the Allard Prize for International Integrity ceremony.

Transparency International also gave Magnitsky a posthumous award in 2010.

There is also a film that shows Magnitsky’s persecution. It was shown to the American congress, plus British, Canadian, Polish, German, and European governments. 

10. The Family Was Compensated 10 Years After His Death

The state was ordered to pay $34,000 to Magnitsky’s widow and mother. This case took 10 years after Magnitsky’s death. Though not a lot of money, the family had been given “some measure of justice “.