Kruvini pinigai: Tikra istorija apie korupciją, pinigų plovimą ir žmogžudystes Putino Rusijoje

by Bill Browder

Šioje knygoje aprašyti sensacingi ir skandalingi faktai. Jos autorius Billas Browderis, Rusijoje dirbęs ilgametis finansininkas, britų investicijų fondo „Hermitage Capital Management" įkūrėjas, ir jo teisininkas Sergejus Magnickis atskleidė aferą – 5,4 milijardo rublių (230 mln. JAV dolerių) nutekėjimą iš Rusijos biudžeto į Putino ir su juo susijusių oligarchų kišenes. Už tai S. Magnickis sumokėjo gyvybe – buvo apkaltintas mokesčių slėpimu ir 2009 m. nuo sumušimų mirė kalėjime. Po kolegos žūties B. Browderis visą savo laiką skyrė purvinų Kremliaus sistemos aferų demaskavimui. Jo pastangomis 2012 m. JAV priimtas Magnickio aktas, numatantis asmenines sankcijas ir turto areštus žmogaus teisių pažeidėjams bei finansinių machinacijų dalyviams. Vėliau Magnickio aktui analogiški įstatymai įteisinti daugelyje Vakarų valstybių, taip pat ir Lietuvoje.

Išaiškėjo, kad pirmieji skaičiai tebuvo ledkalnio viršūnė. Putino valdymo laikotarpiu per užsienio šalių įmones, fondus, bankus iš Rusijos išplautas trilijonas, o gal ir daugiau dolerių. Po Magnickio akto priėmimo Rusijos oligarchų turtas ir įtaka atsidūrė pavojuje, o B. Browderis tapo asmeniniu Putino priešu. Netikėtos ir neišaiškintos su aferomis susijusių žmonių mirtys rodė, kad tolesnės nešvarių pinigų paieškos tapo mirtinai pavojingos.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Russia, True Crime, Audiobook, Crime

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2022

About the author

Bill Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005. Since 2009, when his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was murdered in prison after uncovering a $230 million fraud committed by Russian government officials, Browder has been leading a campaign to expose Russia’s endemic corruption and human rights abuses. Before founding Hermitage, Browder was vice president at Salomon Brothers. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up for the startling information about *why* we are where we are now & also why Navalny had to die on 16 February 2024

I CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT OF MY LOCAL LIBRARY. USE THEIR SERVICES! WE NEED THEM AND THEY NEED US TO SURVIVE.

My Review: In the pantheon of moral crusaders, Bill Browder's the least likely figure I've found to date. He's on a personal and quixotic quest to shut down Putin's money-laundering pipeline to the Western banks who are hiding (it transpires as a result of investigations tied to Browder's own) about a trillion dollars...that is $1 000 000 000 000...for him and his kleptocratic cronies.

And you wonder why the Ukrainian war is still going on...what better way to distract the West and provide his own people with a Cause, Russianness or Russification call it what you will, to rally behind him to fight!

There are laws in numerous Western countries, here called collectively "Magnitsky laws," that trace their passage to Browder's jihad against Putin for the crime of ordering the death (in a very nasty way) of Russian clean-government activist and Browder's Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. These financial-crimes laws empower governments to freeze assets owned by people or entities not based in the country doing the freezing's legal jurisdiction.

You can see this would cause someone with a trillion...a trillion!...stolen dollars some little anxiety. It's led to many murders and attempted murders. It's been clearly documented (the book has astoundingly detailed source material citations). It's led to many acts of cybercrime and harassment (see review linked) against those trying to stop the actual stealing and killing.

In the end, I am not so much glad that I read this book as I am grateful to it, and to Author Browder, for showing me that people who live in a principled way and advertise their intentions clearly can, and do, effect change for the better.

But honestly, I can not remember a time I've been this furious for this long at the existence and the power wielded by Putin supporters and apologists.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder, intrigue, corruption, organized crime, double dealing and high stakes international politics involving billions of dollars. Browder, perhaps lucky to still be here, tells his story exposing Putin and his cronies as an organized crime syndicate that runs Russia. More frustrating to Browder are the American law firms, publicists and lobbyists who are paid millions to enable their crimes and spread their propaganda. Revealing and important. Written with verve. Pages turn quickly.

Browder describes the Putin government’s raid and takeover of his company Hermitage Capital in 2005. Corrupt officials then claimed a $230 million tax refund for Hermitage that they took and laundered to purchase properties in New York and elsewhere. Browder and most of his staff had fled to London, but he used an attorney in Russia to investigate the theft of the $230 million. The Russians then claimed Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, committed the fraud. He was imprisoned and beaten to death in 2009. Browder vowed to get justice for Magnitsky. He went all out to publicize what the Putin government did to Magnitsky. Browder pushed relentlessly for legislation to sanction officials involved in Magnitsky’s murder. In December 2012 President Obama signed into law the Magnitsky Act which had passed Congress with broad bi-partisan support. The act approved freezing assets of those abusing human rights anywhere in the world. Later Obama named 18 people to be sanctioned. Russia responded by banning U.S. adoption of Russian children and sanctioning 18 Americans. Canada and the EU followed with their own Magnitsky acts.

Browder and his associates also went to work to track the $230 million through endless shell companies and banks. They found some of it used to purchase Manhattan properties. With the information Browder supplied, the Southern District of New York filed a case in 2013 against a Russian held real estate company for money laundering. The company, Prevezon, after a lengthy legal battle settled for $6 million in 2017. Prevezon was represented by highly paid US attorneys including one who Browder had used in his investigation, a double cross. Prevezon used the proceedings to get as much personal information about Browder and his sources as they could. Prevezon was owned by Denis Katsyv, son of a Russian government minister. Katsyv engaged in money laundering schemes involving many countries. His Russian lawyer was Natalia Veselnitskaya, the same one who met with Don Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort in 2016. They thought she would deliver dirt on Hillary Clinton, but what she talked about most was Bill Browder. She was trying to get the Magnitsky Act repealed.

Throughout the decade Browder was targeted by the Russians. They faked documents that they claimed “proved” Magnitsky committed the fraud and then they named Browder and charged him with Magnitsky’s murder. Russia issued warrants to Interpol. Fortunately, Interpol rejected them as politically motivated, but in 2018 in Madrid local police apparently were not aware of that. They arrested him on one of the warrants. Without twitter to broadcast his plight and a legion of followers including people like then British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, he might have been stuffed in a cell and sent to Russia where he might well have been beaten to death like Magnitsky.

What was it about the Magnitsky Act that was so important that the Russians spent endless resources threatening and harassing Browder while spending untold sums on expensive US law firms and lobbyists? If it was just $230 million or the handful of people named in the specific crime it makes no sense. Why at the 2018 Helsinki summit with Trump would Bill Browder be the one person Putin named he wanted to interrogate in trade for the 12 GRU officers Mueller had indicted? Trump was all in saying “I think that’s an incredible offer.” Why, when after the summit Putin added names to Browder’s, were most of the people either involved with the Magnitsky Act or the Prevezon case? One of the names added was former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul who Browder had known since 1992 and had also supported the Magnitsky Act. Browder talked to him the day after the summit still waiting to see what Trump would do. McFaul told him “I always knew he [Putin] hated you, Bill, but I had no idea how much.”

Browder explains Putin’s anger. It’s the $200 billion he estimates Putin has acquired by running Russia as his fiefdom, the bulk of which has been stashed in the West through money laundering. The U.S., EU and Canadian Magnitsky acts enacted through Browder’s focused efforts hit directly at that. Under these acts Putin’s assets which are in Western financial institutions, hidden through shell companies, could be frozen if the true source and trail was identified as Browder did with Prevezon. Browder says “the law was an existential threat to him and his senior officials.” “Putin had interfered in the 2016 election because of the Magnitsky Act.”

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Putin's Money Trail
Review of the Simon & Schuster hardcover edition (April 12, 2022)

Freezing Order is Bill Browder's continuing story of his world-wide crusade to expose the trail of crimes of the current Russian ruling kleptocracy headed by Vladimir Putin. It summarizes the earlier events of Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice (2015) and brings the story up to events such as the passage of several further worldwide Acts of Magnitsky Legislation, named in honor of Browder's lawyer Sergei Magnitsky (1972-2009) who died under the torture of Kremlin thugs. Magnitsky legislation can be generally summarized as "laws providing for governmental sanctions against foreign individuals who have committed human rights abuses or been involved in significant corruption." (quoted excerpt from the Wikipedia article linked above).

The book is structured much like a suspense thriller, often with cliff-hanger chapter endings that compel you to continue reading as you wonder how much crazier and dangerous can this possibly get? Events toggle back and forth from the victories of Browder and his allies, as successful "freezing orders" are implemented to seize criminal assets, to Putin's attempts to block and impede the legislation and even to attempt to extradite Browder himself to Russia, where he has already been tried and sentenced in absentia to 18 years of prison. These last are through periodic Interpol 'red notice' warrants initiated by Russia to hopefully get Browder caught in Customs by a foreign country unaware of the malicious intents of the instigators. The book opens in medias res with such an event in Spain in May 2018.

Browder is particularly subject to possible international travel targeting as he crosses many borders to publicize and promote his campaign, which started with the discovery of an initial Russian tax fraud of $230 million, but has since expanded into the tracking of billions if not trillions of $$s of world-wide money laundering hidden under layers and layers of shell companies and Russian allies.

I drew a line from the $230 million fraud to Putin’s proxy, the cellist Sergei Roldugin. I explained that this wasn’t a one-off, but one of thousands of crimes Putin had benefitted from, allowing him to accumulate an estimated $200 billion fortune. I pointed out that nearly all of this wealth was held at financial institutions in the West and at risk of being frozen under the Magnitsky Act. For these reasons, the law was an existential threat to him and his senior officials.

Of perhaps special interest to watchers of the 2016 American Election and the often cited attempts of Russian collusion, it was especially interesting to follow the trail of Russian lawyer and Browder bête noire Natalia Veselnitskaya who notoriously met with Trump proxies at Trump Tower in June 2016. The meeting had been brushed off as dealing with "Russian adoption", which as Browder explains is code for Putin's attempts at a repeal of Magnitsky legislation. Putin stopped the American adoption of Russian orphans in retaliation for the first passing the U.S. Magnitsky Act.

This book is obviously even more timely now with the current Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resultant overwhelming amount of worldwide sanctions against Russia, Putin and his cronies and oligarchs. There are a few small hints that there might have been a rush to print by the publisher due to current events. An event with Magnitsky's son Nikita in the fall of 2022 is referred to as if it has already happened (pg. 303). Browder ally and Estonia's former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves' name is jumbled in the acknowledgments as "Toomas Ilves Hendrik" (sic) (pg. 310). None of these typos are major enough to drop my rating.

[Alfheidur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t make this shit up. A timely pageturner that not only highlights the terrifying lengths that Putin will go to to protect his kleptocracy but also shows the susceptibility of American politicians to his propaganda. Unputdownable.

I think it’s helpful, but not necessary, to have read Browder’s prior book, Red Notice. But it does mean that the first section of this book will feel a bit repetitive.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Browder’s true story reads like an international thriller filled with murders, personal vendettas, legal jujitsu, and more. Unbelievably, Browder is still alive—even though Russian president Vladimir Putin has placed him in both legal and personal jeopardy more than once.

It all began when Bill Browder took economic advantage of an opportunity in 1996 after the fall of the Soviet Union. He set up a hedge fund in Moscow called the Hermitage Fund to invest in Russian companies. Almost immediately, Russian oligarchs and corrupt government officials found ways to artfully steal from the companies. Browder took offense, and chose to fight back. In retaliation, Putin expelled him from Russia as a national security threat, and the officers from the Russian Interior Ministry essentially stole the fund’s holding companies. A $230 million tax refund was owed to those companies and one of Browder’s Russian lawyers discovered that it was stolen through an elaborate money laundering scheme. This brilliant attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, believed that “Russia was changing for the better and that the rule of law would ultimately protect him.” He was wrong—very wrong, and he paid with his life.

Browder vowed that he would bring to justice those responsible for this man’s death. The bulk of the book follows Broder’s efforts (and those of many others) to pass the Magnitsky Act in the United States and Europe that would “ban visas and freeze assets of Russian human rights violators—including those who had tortured and killed Sergei.” [Others were killed or nearly killed via beatings, poisonings, gunshots, and even being pushed off from buildings.] The author builds the case that these people suffered due to Putin—who made repealing the Act his “top foreign policy objective.” Why? It was personal with Putin as it put his wealth and power at risk.

I was familiar with parts of this fascinating story. For instance, there was the famous TrumpTower meeting in 2016 that included attendees Paul Manafort, son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, and several Russians, including the infamous Kremlin operative Natalia Veselnitskaya. The Russians were NOT there to talk about adoptions as they suggested, but rather the Magnitsky Act.

This incredible story is well-paced and reads like a thriller. The most troubling aspect is how acquiescent the western establishment has been to Russian crimes and lies.

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced and all too relevant, this is a interesting and important read for people hoping to better understand the machinations of power within Russia and how those impact the rest of the world. Though it is, of course, very one-sided, it was a compelling read and one I can certainly recommend.

[Trudie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I learnt a tremendous amount here about Russian money laundering and the Magnitsky act, all of it interesting but I would have loved a more objective account. This statement would seem to suggest I don't trust the author's view on things, which is not the case. But rather I feel fewer mentions of family skiing vacations in Aspen and all the trans-continental jet setting might have made space for some more interesting analysis.

I guess what this tells me is I like books written by investigative journalists rather than self-penned memoirs even though this one is quite thrilling. I had several questions about how Browder came to work in and make money in Russia (this may have been covered in his book Red Notice ). Perhaps some more background on characters like John Moscow and other key players might have added some missing depth. But putting my queries aside there is no arguing with the bravery of Browder and what he and others have achieved in the face of overwhelming Russian deviousness. Creative poisoning being the method of choice to nix opposition it is no insignificant step to be so loudly in opposition to one Vladimir Putin...
An outstanding story of bravery that gets a little bit bogged down in the details.

[Therese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this for book club, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, and thought this was going to be an exciting spy novel. Or maybe a story loosely based on real events. Once I started the book and found it was Bill Browder’s true story, I found it truly shocking. Mr. Browder, CEO of a hedge fund investing in Russian companies, and his colleagues are accused by the Russian government of stealing $230M. He and his team go on the offensive to investigate, and discover the crime was actually committed by members of the Russian government themselves. And as their investigation continues, they uncover an elaborate money laundering scheme of over a trillion dollars, with ties to the very head of the Russian government, who will stop at nothing to threaten Mr. Browder and his colleagues, or worse. When one of his tax lawyers is murdered in a Russian prison, he is devoted to developing and passing a piece of legislation called the Magnitsky Act, named in honor of his murdered friend, that allows the US government to sanction foreign individuals found to be human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and prevent them from entry into the US. Unpleasant news for those trying to launder all that money.

Chilling reading…

[Joy R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the Magnitsky Act, the tragic circumstances that surround its creation, and the role that it has had in freezing money laundering assets trailing from Russia and Vladimir Putin to banks and countries across the world. The tale, winding over 20 years from the 2006 finding of a fraudulent $230 million tax refund by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, part of a team from Hermitage Capital Management, originally based in Russia, tells of their fight to find the truth. The Act, initiated after the 358 day long wrongful incarceration and eventual death of Magnitsky in Russia, is one means that countries can track and prosecute monies laundered through their country’s banks. Currently, 34 different countries have this Act in place and over 500 sanctions have been made under the law.

Filled with detail and clear focus, this true story is one each of us needs to read. In explaining some of the nuances of money laundering, one understands more about the politics that go into a country’s policies and laws, including the influences that have affected US policy over the last six years. In learning about the risks that brave people have made to find truth, one realizes the importance for all of us to question more and continue to clamor for justice. This book is well worth your time in a testament to human will.

[Numidica · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are several detailed reviews available of Freezing Order, and I'm not going to swell the rout of eight-paragraph analyses of Bill Browder's book here. Suffice it to say that Browder explains in plain language in this book and his earlier Red Notice why the Russian regime under Putin is an organized crime syndicate masquerading as a government, and he describes how Western banking and legal institutions have wittingly and unwittingly aided Putin's, and the oligarch's, accumulation of wealth. Most of their money has ended up in banks or real estate in Switzerland, the UK, the US, and other Western "rule of law" nations, and the total amount moved is in the neighborhood of $1 trillion, with about 20% of that belonging to Putin himself.

Finally, the war in Ukraine has woken most people up to what a monster Putin is, but the only way to make him and his cronies suffer for their crimes is to make them as poor as possible by shutting them out of Western financial systems, seizing their assets, and stopping them from using the West as their playground. The Magnitsky Act in the US that Bill Browder worked so long to get passed into law and similar laws in Canada, the EU, the UK, and Australia (with similar bills pending in several countries) finally gives national justice / law enforcement agencies the tools they need to seize assets and prosecute criminals. At least four people Browder knew and worked with on exposing human rights abuses and financial crimes were killed by Russian state security agencies, and two others were nearly killed or maimed. Browder himself has been repeatedly targeted by the Russians, and he has been tried twice in absentia and convicted of false charges in Russia. He has had to keep bodyguards around him whenever he was in a location where the Russians operate relatively freely, and he has had to flee certain countries, like Monaco and Spain, where the FSB has a cozy working relationship with local authorities.

The thing that having $200B does for Putin is that it is easy to buy officials in many countries who will either do his bidding or turn a blind eye to his crimes. In some manner, Trump was one of these. It is not clear whether Putin "loaned" Donald the money to build his golf course in Scotland, or if there was some other form of Kompromat on Trump, but Trump's behavior in favoring Putin fits the model of other officials over whom Putin has or had leverage, like Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (who should definitely be investigated, by the way). In the infamous Helsinki meeting with Putin, Trump described Putin's proposal to trade 12 GRU agents for Bill Browder as an "incredible offer"; and Trump for days refused to reject it, but fortunately Putin over-played his hand by then also asking for the former US ambassador to Russia to be handed over, and ultimately the outcry from real Americans forced Trump to politely turn down his pal Vladimir's offer.

This is an excellent book, and a quick read, and I also highly recommend Broder's previous Red Notice, which explains the rise of Putin. Freezing Order brings the story up to date from 2015 when the previous book was published.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was I a different person when I read Bill Browder’s RED NOTICE less than three years ago? Is his current book, continuing that story, written in a different tone? I say yes to both questions.
I’m now totally disgusted by people who have to tell us how privileged they are by dropping in details about their family skiing vacations whilst telling us an espionage story. Disgusted by arrogance in people who think they can direct another person’s life choices.
A heck of a lot has changed in the world since January 2020, including the way I think. I won’t be reading Mr. Browder’s books anymore.

[Alex Givant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Bill Browder to go above and beyond in his quest to fight wrong!

[Susan Tunis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is extraordinary! While I had been recommended Red Notice by bookstore customers many times, reading it had never really appealed to me. However, with the war in Ukraine raising interest in all things Russia and Putin-related higher, I put this book on my list.

Holy crap! This is an unbelievable story! And by "unbelievable," I mean, "entirely too believable." The story Bill Browder lays out is as compelling as any international thriller I've read. It starts with a big financial crime in Russia and quickly escalates to a series of murders and attempted murders. Russian agents act with impunity across the globe, enabled by avaricious Westerners. And I'll give Mr. Browder credit for this--he names names. Not just Russian ones that won't mean a lot to most readers, but American and British politicians, diplomats, and officers of the court who behave outrageously, cowardly, or corruptly. Oh, and add one U.S. president to that list. Can you guess who it is?

I was sort of fascinated by Browder himself. He comes across very sympathetically, and he has a kind of everyman quality about him--kind of like a John Grisham protagonist if, instead of being a small town Southern lawyer, he's an international hedge fund manager and master of the universe. Because this isn't a little guy getting accidentally tangled up in a major conspiracy. This is an obscenely wealthy man with resources and connections you and I can't fathom. Part of me thinks it's a miracle this guy is still alive, and part of me thinks, you can't possibly kill someone that rich and connected! Throughout the book, though, he references his fear, and it doesn't feel even a little unrealistic. In fact, the book opens with a truly terrifying episode. His paranoia feels earned.

The other thing is, this whole story isn't about him. It's about his crusade to make a friend's murder lead to desperately needed reform. Basically, he's fighting the good fight for all who can't. Yes, there's self-interest involved, but it's hard to see this as anything but admirable.

So, I'm late coming to this story, but I'm paying attention now! This episode comes to a satisfying conclusion, but the war ain't won yet.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't want to know more about what makes Vladimir Putin tick these days? Bill Browder's Freezing Order, his follow up work to Red Notice, offers plenty of evidence that Putin is a revengeful criminal.

The title Freezing Order is a reference to a law called the Magnitsky Act which allows the US, and other countries who have enacted similar sanctions, to freeze money in accounts where these funds are the proceeds of criminal acts. The Act is named after Sergei Magnitsky, Browder's former Russian Attorney who was imprisoned and beaten to death by the Russians for being an honest man. Magnitsky is a major part of Brower's Red Notice.

In Freezing Order, Browder recounts his and others efforts to assist other countries to enact their own Magnitsky Acts and to apply the Act to Russian real estate properties and bank accounts in the US. Putin is featured heavily in the later part of the book because ot his vendetta against Browder for helping institute this Act that makes money laundering so much more difficult for Russian criminals. It becomes clear that Putin is certainly a criminal and most of his fortune has accrued from his criminal activity.

There is also discussion of Putin's relationship with Trump that leads to Browder's fear that even traveling to the US for him may no longer be safe because of Russian efforts to have him arrested and sent to Russia. Browder has been sentenced in absentia to many years in jail for crimes he did not commit.

Exciting reading.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

You literally cannot make this stuff up. Freezing Order reads like a political thriller but it’s the stuff of real life. The reach of Purim’s tentacles and the lengths his administration goes to in order to protect the kleptocracy is terrifying and astounding. I’m going back to read Red Notice which I wish I’d read before I dipped into this one.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuing story of Bill Browder's prodigious efforts to bring retribution to Putin and the Russian oligarchs who murdered his colleague Sergei Magnitsky and have stolen billions from the people of Russia. I would recommend reading his first book Red Notice first, which is not necessary but helpful for context around Browder's connection to Russia and the wealth he is able to bring to his campaign to get governments around the world to freeze/seize illegal funds from money laundering. The center of the story is a huge tax refund to Russian patsies ($230 million), which then hung on Browder, who is the subject of Russian rendition efforts. This is an ode to "truth is stranger than fiction."

[Ti.Me · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Browder's Freezing Order feels, to me, like chewing on cardboard. I got as far as 50% before giving up.
DNF

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superb book written by a very brave man.

The background is this. Bill Browder is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which at one time was the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. The primary investment strategy of Browder was shareholder rights activism. Browder took on large Russian companies such as Gazprom, Unified Energy Systems, and Sidanco. In retaliation, on November 13, 2005, Browder was refused entry to Russia, deported to the UK, and declared a threat to Russian national security.

Eighteen months after Browder was deported, on June 4, 2007, Hermitage Capital's offices in Moscow were raided by twenty-five officers of Russia's Interior Ministry. Twenty-five more officers raided the Moscow office of Browder's American law firm, Firestone Duncan, seizing the corporate registration documents for Hermitage's investment holding companies. Browder assigned Sergei Magnitsky, head of the tax practice at Firestone Duncan, to investigate the purpose of the raid. Magnitsky discovered that while those documents were in the custody of the police, they had been used to fraudulently re-register Hermitage's holding companies to the name of an ex-convict. Magnitsky was subsequently arrested by Russian authorities and killed in prison, having been denied proper medical treatment.

The perpetrators used the companies to apply for a fraudulent $230 million tax refund, awarded on December 24, 2007.

After Magnitsky's death, Browder lobbied for Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, a law to punish Russian human rights violators, which was signed into law in 2012 by President Barack Obama. This law is now in force in many western democracies.

The Russians came after Browder claiming he was the one who applied for the tax refund, turning everything around so that they looked like the injured party. The Russians did try Browder and an associate in absentia in a Russian court and he was convicted of crimes, but it was the hostile legal cases he faced in the country of his birth that are the most shocking.

American lawyers were hired by rich Russians to try and prove that a money-laundering case against a company called Prevezon Holdings was completely fictitious and that the real culprit was Bill Browder. These court cases made my flesh creep because the Russians have so much money they can afford to hire the most expensive lawyers for as long as it takes to make their case. Thankfully, Prevezon had to pay a large fine in the end, but must have spent even more on lawyer's fees to try and disprove the case against them.

A lot of people who are opponents of the Putin regime end up dying in mysterious circumstances in various places, the reach of the assassins knows no bounds.

At times the book reads like a John Le Carre or Len Deighton spy thriller from the 1970s and 80s and occasionally I expected George Smiley to appear.

[Margaux B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one for political books but found this one fascinating. Browder does an excellent job of setting up his story of the Magnitsky Act and it reads like it was a fictional murder mystery. Except it all happened! I mean some of the stuff would be laughed at if written for a movie - like the attorney who fought the good fight but eventually becomes corrupted by Russian money is named . . . Moscow. Sections of this book are mind blowing.

Although the book does touch on politics, the author remains objective and doesn't discuss political views. He keeps the focus on Putin and how he has managed to amass a huge fortune through criminal activity. I also appreciate how the author explained the intricacies of financial crimes and money laundering in simple terms. I learned a lot. I also learned hair raising things like judges can stay on the bench until they decide to leave, even if they are 80+ years old and no longer up to the task.

I heard some of the reporting but to read it from the person who lived through it all? Just amazing. How Browder stood firm against the sea of Putin machinations in order to make sure the murder of his friend and attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, was avenged is beyond me. I would have folded the first time I was threatened with extradition to Russia, never mind taken into custody. This book was eye-opening on just how much Russian money has been spent on law firms, banks and politicians. Who would want to stop the flow of MILLIONS of dollars? How would you even be able to hold any of them to account? This book scared me a little.

Freezing Order had me cheering for the good guys and on the edge of my seat for the outcome - despite me knowing how it ends! All the stars for this book.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

FREEZING ORDER: A TRUE STORY OF MONEY LAUNDERING, MURDER, and SURVIVING PUTIN's WRATH
Bill Browder

OMG, seriously the scariest book I have ever read in my life. I was butterflies and at the edge of my chair so many times. I consistently wanted to yell, go back Bill! But I don't know where he would go back to.

Nothing really surprises me today about corrupt politicos, I think they are all pretty much corrupt, and selling their souls for new soles! I was in Bosnia with the UN and I have to say that the Russians, as a group, were almost as scary as the Serbs. The Russian mafia was everywhere and basically in charge of so much. I know that is nothing like what Browder has put up with, but I was working with stripe shirts and thugs, while he faced off the powerful.

Super interesting, can't recommend it enough. I found it very unbiased, and unpolitical with regard to our political parties. It was just straight-up white-collar theft committed by thugs with power. Keep on your toes Bill, memories are long.

5 stars

Happy Reading!

[Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying - as you read it , there are many a times you will ask yourself- is this really possible? Did this really happen? Was the world blind ?
It reads better than a thriller . A true story which should be read by many.
You will then look at the Russia - Ukraine war and understand many a statements and events and actions.
It tells you about the adage - most people can be bought : you just need to know either the right price or the right barter.
The book with its reality also scares you regards what is happening to the world and how politicians and lawmakers are looking the other way - at least many of them.
Go read it !

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!!! I won this book through Goodreads Giveaways and I’m SO GLAD that I did. It reads like a fiction thriller, but all of it is true! For doubters, everything in the book was so publicized during the actual events it would be easy to fact check any claim or event. I can’t imagine what it was like for Bill Browder and his family for so many years. There will never be enough people in the world with the courage that he, and those that experienced all this and continue to fight, possesses.

[Cameron Olsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Browder likes seeing himself as a pseudo secret agent or spy. Every women is beautiful and intelligent, every enemy has a prior motive. Whilst I acknowledge the situation he has gone through, a little more humility would be nice.

[kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book since I read Bill Browder’s jaw dropping debut book, Red Notice, in one sitting. I generally follow the news, so I know that Putin is a bad guy, but you don’t realize the total depravity of the Putin regime until someone like Browder writes about all of his atrocities in one tome.

This book is another incredible journey into the pits of Russian degeneracy, and the Russian government’s fight against the Magnitsky Act that Browder fought so hard to pass to vindicate the death of his friend and attorney, Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky exposed Russian corruption and misconduct alongside Browder and was subsequently tortured and killed by the regime. From the first chapter to the last, I was hanging on to the edge of my seat during the entire book, as Browder courageously tries to find out who was behind the spiderweb of money laundering and murder and why.

Browder is to be commended for his bravery in standing up to one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. What a different world this would be if we all displayed such courage. One of the most impactful takeaways from this book is that none of this could happen without western enablers and the acquiescence of timid and ineffective governments that refuse to follow their own laws and values. You can see this clearly today. Especially in light of current events, this book is a must read that takes a look the psyche of Putin and his horrific regime.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and Net Galley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Daniil · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s one thing for Russians to act the way they do. Their society is so harsh and unforgiving that in order to get through life, most people are either getting screwed or screwing someone else—and often both. There are few rewards for doing what is right.”

A great follow up to the first book “Red Notice”. Based on true events and investigations, it exposes the scale, scope, shameless audacity and corruption of Putin and his cronies.

Reading these two books and seeing how deep and how vast organized crime and corruption has penetrated every level of modern Russia, I personally see no hope for this country for generations to come :(

[Renata Annese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This electrifying, real life thriller plunges you straight into the shadowy world of international corruption, ruthless power, and the relentless fight for justice 🌍⚖️. With a fast paced, gripping narrative, it reveals the shocking lengths regimes will go to protect their wealth and influence, and the immense courage it takes to expose the truth.

Uncovering how far powerful lobbyists and attorneys will go to shield dirty money, Freezing Order is both a sobering wake up call and an inspiring testament to courage and resilience 🧊🔥. This is a must read for anyone who loves gripping political nonfiction and high stakes battles against seemingly impossible odds. ⭐📚

[Geoffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not Red Notice, not even close. It is good, but it seems to drag on a bit. Once he gets into the Trump stuff, the book just seems to fizzle out. Hard to believe this book is rated as high as it is, I think anti-Trumpers have clung to this book as some kind of proof of............well proof of something! Read Red Notice for sure, this book is optional at best.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay read.

I found it not too recent honestly. A lot of the content was a few years outdated.

However, I did find some interesting bits throughout the book!

3.6/5

[Rita Costa (Lusitania Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Browder, um investidor financeiro que inicialmente viu oportunidades na Rússia pós-soviética, compartilha a sua jornada desde a busca por lucro até o confronto com a corrupção sistemática .

O segundo livro oferece uma visão perspicaz sobre a degradação da política russa, as lutas por poder e as consequências de desafiar o chefe do estado, Vladimir Putin. Esta obra consegue transmitir ao leitor de uma forma viciante, sem complexidade, como o mundo da politica e financeira russa é vista pelo ocidente. Browder é obrigado enfrentado com obstáculos e desafios extraordinários em sua busca por justiça devidoa mortes, detenções e perseguições que os seus amigos tiveram que sujeitar para uma Russia mais livre, menos corrupta.

Este livro de não ficção, conta factos reais que mostra o quão instável, corrupto e ameaçador a Russia está a ficar, em pleno século XXI, graças ao ditador Putin.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Rebeca Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW LOVED IT!

This book was actually so interesting and I never wanted to put it down.

While you’re reading this tho, you will be on the edge of depression and happiness. It’s a very fine line.

It’s just so insane the stuff that Putin and others get away with.

Sometimes the book was a little confusing because there were a lot of people mentioned and a couple of lawyer terms and since I’m not Elle Woods I obvious did not know them.

Anyways I really enjoyed it and recommend if you like to feel angry and happy at the same time!