MOSCOW – A Moscow court has sentenced the financier who has advocated for a U.S. law targeting Russian officials over human rights abuses to nine years in prison in absentia over tax evasion and funneling money overseas.
William Browder has been the driving force behind the Magnitsky Act. The legislation is named after Browder's former employee Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail after accusing Russian officials of involvement in a tax fraud scheme.
Browder, who is based in London, has dismissed the accusations against him as a sham.
The same court convicted Browder of tax evasion in another trial in absentia in 2013.
Shortly after the Magnitsky Act was passed, the Russian government countered by barring Americans from adopting Russian children.
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