Letter from A.Navalny to M.A.Bino



The letter below represents the opinion by Alexey Navalny with respect to development of Corruption in Russia. The content is supported by the suggested links and can be considered as scientific concept.

=Letter from A.Navalny to M.A.Bino=

Madame Maria Antonella Bino Procureur général suppléant Ministère public de la Confédération Avenue des Bergières 42 1004 Lausanne Fax No. +41 21 644 33 20 24 October 2011 Re: Further Evidence Regarding Criminal Complaint Relating to Vladlen Stepanov and Olga Stepanova in connection with money laundering pertaining to accounts held at Credit Suisse (Zurich) in the names of Aikate Properties, Inc., Arivust Holdings Limited, and related accounts

Dear Mrs Bino:

I am a Russian political and social activist focused on corruption issues in Russia. My background is reasonably well summarized in my Wikipedia biography, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Navalny. I am sending this letter to provide you further evidence of criminal activity regarding two Russians in connection with the above-captioned case, one of whom has been a highly-ranked Russian tax official, relating to account activity in Switzerland at Credit Suisse (Zurich) (“Credit Suisse’).

In connection with my work, I have previously published on my website (http://navalny.livejournal.com/578669.html) allegations of money laundering and corruption involving these two individuals, Olga Stepanova and Vladlen Stepanov, whose assets I understand have been frozen by your office in connection with their illicit financial transactions at Credit Suisse. This information was disclosed publically by Vladlen Stepanov, himself, in his open letter to me in RBC newspaper (http://stepanov-vlad.livejournal.com/728.html). In response to my publication of the allegations relating to their corruption and money laundering in relation to the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYDJYTcgnLo, Vladlen Stepanov has sued me in a Moscow court for defamation.

In the course of those proceeding, at my request, the Moscow court subpoenaed various Russian state bodies to produce documents on Stepanov’s s income for the period 2003 – 2009 as well as the facts behind his marital status. I am providing you those documents in Enclosure’s 1 and 2 with English translations. These documents confirm that he has no legitimate explanation for the \(39 million in assets he and his wife, Olga Stepanova acquired in Moscow, Dubai and Switzerland, and effectively confirms that he committed tax fraud in Russia.

The documents provided by various Russian government agencies to the Moscow Lublin District Court, reveal that Vladlen Stepanov’s official income averaged \)4,340 per annum over the past four years and totaled \(346,081 for the period of 2003 to 2009, which together cover the time of all of his transactions through Credit Suisse accounts in Switzerland. These documents show that Vladlen Stepanov has no legitimate explanation for more than 99 percent of the assets that he controls and that have flowed through his bank accounts, including the millions of dollars and Euros that have moved through the accounts he held at Credit Suisse.

The documents from the Lublin District Court in Moscow also provide evidence that Vladlen Stepanov and Olga Stepanova were only divorced in December 16, 2010, showing that previous public statements made by Vladlen Stepanov that they had been divorced a decade or more ago were false.

As you may be aware, in Russia, divorces by those in the business and political classes are commonly undertaken to provide a formal legal separation between spouses for tax or business reasons, even when the two persons are still living together as husband and wife and remain partners in their personal lives. However, the documentation provided by the court shows that the legal “divorce” between Vladlen Stepanov and Olga Stepanova did not take place until December 16, 2010 and is objective evidence that the funds they have amassed up until then involved corruption.

This document also confirms that in accordance with the Russian law, Vladlen Stepanov's wife, Olga Stepanova, has been at the effective owner for at least 50% of all the assets registered at Vladlen Stepanov’s name until 16 December 2010. As such, Olga Stepanova was the beneficiary of tens of millions of dollars (or Euros) in community property at the same time that she, in her capacity of the Head Moscow Tax office No 28, was authorising illegal tax rebates from the Treasury of the Russian Federation totaling up to \)230 million.

The documents provided in the Moscow court proceeding confirm that as the Head Moscow Tax office No 28, Olga Stepanova failed to report assets she owned on her public disclosure forms, as required for public officials under Russian law as an anti-corruption measure. These documents also show massive tax evasion on the part of Vladlen Stepanov (being the Russian tax resident throughout his life) in light of the gross disparity between his unofficial income and his reported income.

For your further background, Olga Stepanova, Head of Tax Office No 28 has been responsible for systematic illegal tax rebates in Russia, as set forth in summary at http://russian-untouchables.com/eng/olga-stepanova/, also in December 2007 Olga Stepanova authorized illegal rebate of majority 5.4 billion rubles ( \(230 million ) of income tax earlier paid by subsidiaries of Hermitage Fund (criminal complaint: http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D259.pdf ). Previously, in November –December 2006 Olga Stepanova authorized illegal rebate of majority 2.9 billion rubles ( \)107 million ) of income tax earlier paid by subsidiaries of RenGaz, managed by Renaissance Capital (criminal complaint: http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D263.pdf  an English translation http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D284.pdf ). Later, in 2008 Olga Stepanova also authorized an illegal rebate of 1 billion rubles ( $ 42 million ) of VAT to be paid to OOO “TechProm” (criminal complaint: http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D269.pdf an English translation http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D285.pdf ).

I enclose the documents that provide the proof that Vladlen Stepanov had no declared source of income for the funds that he moved through his accounts in Switzerland, that his and Stepanova’s statements of their net worth to the Russian authorities were false and fraudulent, and providing the actual dates of his marriage to, and his “divorce” from, Olga Stepanova, which thereby document that the funds controlled by Stepanov were also the undeclared and illicit property of Olga Stepanova.

In summary:

The Credit Suisse accounts controlled by Vladlen Stepanov, which handled funds that were the community property of him and his wife, Olga Stepanova, at the time she was a senior tax official in Russia, contained funds which vastly exceeded his (their) legitimate sources of income during the relevant periods, and it would appear, throughout his life. Circumstantial and documentary evidence suggest that the funds which moved through Vladlen Stepanov’s accounts in Credit Suisse or elsewhere in Switzerland derived from the funds that Olga Stepanova fraudulently refunded from the Russian Treasury in scams conducted by corrupt Russian officials and criminals for their collective benefit, which included, but likely were not limited to the funds relating to the Hermitage Fund. Vladlen Stepanov and Olga Stepanov were married at the time the transactions took place, including all relevant transactions at Credit Suisse, making her benefit from these funds corrupt.

It is my hope that the new documents provide further evidence that you may find helpful in connection with your decision to freeze the assets of accounts controlled by Vladlen Stepanov on his own and Olga Stepanova’s behalf, and to provide a basis for their ultimate confiscation by the Swiss authorities.

I also hope that you are able to broaden the investigation to explore money laundering by others involved with Vladlen Stepanov and Olga Stepanova, who were participants in the ongoing criminal conspiracy that generated the funds that moved through Vladlen Stepanov’s accounts. Doing so is important. The functions of Russia’s Interior Ministry and Tax Ministry have already been substantially compromised and damaged by the abuses undertaken by the officials and criminals who have partnered in the corruption. Already, one man of integrity, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, has been killed in a Russian prison as a result of the efforts of these persons to cover-up their ongoing conspiracy, uncovered by Mr Magnitsky and his colleagues. Because of the scope, breadth, and capacity of the conspiracy and the high level government positions of some of its participants, the conspiracy threatens the integrity and viability of a number of Russian state organs.

I remain available to you to provide any further assistance. Sincerely, Alexei Navalny Enclosures

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