“Forbes” magazine placed the swindler Khodorkovsky* on 15th place among influential non-American businessmen. In the town Lesnoy, a taxman-henchman was found. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on July 24, 2003 and 2008.
On this day 20 years ago, on July 24, 2003, “Fortune” magazine included the Russian billionaire-swindler Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the rating of 25 most influential non-American businessmen. “The top position in this list of the most influential non-Americans was given to the Briton John Browne, chief executive of the oil company British Petroleum, the second and the third place became two Japanese – the general director of the company Sony Nobuyuki Idei and honorable president of Toyota Motor Kiichiro Toyoda”.
The con artist Mikhail Khodorkovsky, over whom loomed tax clouds at that moment, was squeezed into 15th place. As was pointed out, compilers of this rating leaned on factors from which the main are volume of private fortune and scale of business, as well as such difficult to calculate factor as luck”.
(See also the article “On this day, the thievish company Yukos was included in the 500 rating of the journal “Fortune”. Corporative anomaly 2003).
However, already in a year, in August 2004, “Fortune” magazine turned its back on Mikhail Khodorkovsky – because of the exposed criminal activity, the darling of party and economy nomenclature lost his influence and was toppled out from the rating “Fortune 25 Europe”.
Yet, in the second dozen of the list emerged Roman Abramovich. “Fortune” magazine reported that “the red Roman”, as he was called by British tabloids, was not threatened by the fate of the former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in spite of tax claims from the part of tax agencies against the company “Sibneft” to the tune of $1.5.
(It’s worth saying that the fate of Khodorkovsky has been the work of Khodorkovsky himself. Nothing prevented him from settling the same tax issues through prejudicial procedures, as did, practically, all representatives of Russian big business, who, without any scandals, paid off tax arrears and penalties after their tax and prices games. However, members of Khodorkovsky’s gang went too far. They not only evaded taxes, but also killed people),
But, for instance, the head of the supervisory board of directors of the consortium “Alfa-Group” Mikhail Fridman took 10th place, i.e. higher than Khodorkovsky. “Mr. Fridman acquired for himself a certificate of insurance by selling half of the company TNK to the British BP… In such a way, he gained a powerful ally in the person of the leadership of BP and British government”, rhapsodized “Fortune”.
It rhapsodized, as in 2022, it turned out that in nature there are no “certificates of insurance”, far less guaranties of immunity of private ownership, investments and secrecy of private deposits – the governments of the United States and Great Britain, acting in a robber-like manner and beyond legal field, has started to ransack people in accordance with their nationality, paying for Russophobia and stocking it in the whole world. Among others, a role of active henchmen of these blatant Russophobes, was also played by the swindlers and murderers from Yukos – Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Leonid Nevzlin.
“HELPED YUKOS TO EVADE TAXES”
On the same day 15 years ago, on July 24, 2008, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court commented the verdict that had been passed in the middle of July against the former head of the Tax Service of the town Lesnoy Sergey Karfidov. The Court of the town Lesnoy in the Sverdlovsk District, within the framework of the investigation of “tax preferences” for Yukos, sentenced the former official to four years imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.
This criminal case over the tax official was sent to court in April 2008 for considerations on the merits. According to the press-service of the Sverdlovsk District Court, in the town Lesnoy had been registered four affiliates of the oil company NK Yukos – LLC “Busines-Oil”, LLC “Mitra”, LLC “Vald-Oil” and LLC “Forest-Oil”. In the words of a representative of the court, substantial tax preferences had been granted to these firms, and Karfidov didn’t control the implementation of tax legislation and helped these entities to evade taxes to the total amount of about 13.5 billion rubles.
Upon the information of the investigation, during the period of 1998 to 2001, Karfidov, “illegally removed obstacles for committing by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, Irina Golub and other members of the organized group tax evasion and not paying taxes by legal entities on an especially large scale”
On this episode, in May 2005, the inventors of this thievish scheme were already sentenced, namely Platon Lebedev and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The court held that, during the period 1999-2000, under the direction of Khodorkovsky, the organized group, on behalf of dummy legal entities LLC “Business Oil”, LLC “Mitra”, LLC “Vald-Oil” and LLC “Forest-Oil” facilitated tax evasion to the total amount of 17 billion 395 million 449 thousand 282 rubles.
“Then, in 2007, his 5-year sentence for complicity in this scheme became the mayor of the town Lesnoy Alexander Ivannikov. And, in 2008, the guilty verdict was passed against Yukos tax henchman Sergey Karfidov. Lawyers, naturally, exercised the right to challenge the verdict. However, in September 2008, their cassation appeal was rejected, and the verdict became final and biding”, notes the website Prigovor.ru.
(See also the previous article “On this day, yet another warrant was issued for the arrest of the ordering customer of murders Leonid Nevzlin”.“In all cases, Nevzlin gave direct instructions to Pichugin with regard to organizing murders and its carrying out”. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on July 23, 2004).
*On May 20, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice included M.B. Khodorkovsky in the list of physical persons executing functions of a foreign agent.
