Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath

Red Notice made the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists, evidence that the truth about the Magnitsky case was getting out. However, pro-Putin factions existed in European countries such as France and Hungary. The Netherlands was anti-Putin, though, and Browder appeared on Jinek, a popular talk show there. While on air waiting to be interviewed, Browder received a text informing him that his ally and friend Boris Nemtsov had been killed in Moscow. He announced this on air in reference to the dangers faced by his team.

Nemtsov had just given an interview on a Moscow radio station about an upcoming anti-Putin demonstration. While Nemtsov was walking near the Kremlin, a snowplow came up next to him: “At that moment, an assassin jumped from a darkened stairway on the side of the bridge and shot Boris six times” (137). The Russians implausibly claimed that the CCTV cameras were off for maintenance. They then raided Nemtsov’s offices, more interested in his allies than his murder. Public outrage ensued, as 50,000 people took to the streets to protest his murder and demand action. In response, the Russians arrested five Chechen men. However, Browder asserts that Putin, incensed by Nemtsov’s support of the Magnitsky Act, ordered the assassination.

Frustrated with the time spent on Browder’s objections, Judge Griesa ruled against him and granted Prevezon’s subpoena in full. In addition, Browder had to sit for a deposition on April 15, 2015. He was terrified that the information being requested would endanger his contacts in Russia. He hired a new lawyer, Michael Kim, who developed a successful plan. Since the subpoena was so broad, Browder could drown his adversaries in irrelevant information. He handed over 328,525 pages of information, most of which was publicly available, and continued to provide similar data dumps. Prevezon’s attorneys couldn’t say that he hadn’t complied with the subpoena.

At the deposition, Prevezon’s lawyers stated that Denis Katsyv, the owner, and his lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, were listening in from Russia. Kim instructed Browder to take his time, reading any document presented to him before answering. His adversaries had only seven hours to depose him, and this would eat up the clock. He also was to be concise in his answers, sticking to yes or no whenever he could. Browder “said some version of ‘I don’t know’ over a hundred times” (149). In the end, Prevezon didn’t get the information it wanted. Cymrot, the company’s lawyer, then went back to court to ask for more specific documents and a second deposition. Unable to comprehend Browder’s role in the case, the judge was finished with Browder and declined this request. Kim’s strategy had worked: The lawyers from BakerHostetler “walked right into” (151) his trap.

Vladimir Kara-Murza came to the US to speak at a Congressional Memorial for Nemtsov, a close friend of his. At the conclusion of his passionate speech, Kara-Murza held up a paper with eight names whom he deemed responsible for Nemtsov’s death and deserving of sanctions under the Magnitsky Act. Kara-Murza later returned to Russia to continue his “anti-Putin advocacy work” (156). Despite being locked out of venues and harassed, he managed to speak with the opposition at a café. He noticed strangers recording his words. The next day, Kara-Murza got ill at a luncheon, vomiting and collapsing. He was diagnosed as poisoned by an unknown substance and was in grave condition.

A friend and journalist alerted Browder to Kara-Murza’s illness. As a result of the poisoning, he had multiple organ failure. His friends wanted to evacuate him to Israel from Russia and secure biological samples to identify the poison. His wife was initially prevented from visiting him in the hospital but with the help of Kara-Murza’s attorney was able to visit him in the intensive care unit. At their request, a nurse “drew some blood, took clippings of Vladimir’s hair and nails, placed these in sealed bags, and handed everything to Evgenia” (166), his wife. When the Israeli intensive care specialist examined him, he concurred with what the Russian doctors had said. If Kara-Murza was moved, he’d die. His wife and friends worried that he’d die in Russia as well.

Browder sent Kara-Murza’s medical chart to Kyle Parker, a US Congressional staffer who had essentially written the Magnitsky Act. Parker suspected that two poisons were used, one to mimic food poisoning and the other to shut down organs. However, the British Foreign Office declined to use the diplomatic pouch to transport Kara-Murza’s blood samples from Russia despite his British citizenship. To Browder’s frustration, British authorities explained that the Vienna Convention limited the use of a diplomatic pouch to official communications. The samples were ultimately taken to the UK, but Browder had difficulty finding a company to test them. When he finally found one, the samples were too degraded to determine the type of poison.

With the aid of Russian doctors, genuinely trying to save his life, Kara-Murza began to improve. A black spot on his stomach required surgery, which in turn led to a severe stroke. However, after six weeks, he was well enough to join his family in the US and begin to heal. He remained dedicated to the Magnitsky Act.

Cymrot and Moscow, the attorneys representing Prevezon, convinced Judge Griesa to require Browder to sit for a second deposition. They then formally alleged in written documents that Browder and Magnitsky had stolen the $230 million. Meanwhile, Prevezon, their client, had the proceeds of this dirty money in New York. While unsuccessful, the attorneys filed two motions to hold Browder in contempt of court, one of which accused him of conspiring with the US government to destroy the Katsyv family. Clearly, the Russians, not the attorneys from BakerHostetler, were calling the shots.

The second deposition was set for December 18, 2015 via video. Before that, Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika (whose name translates to seagull) published an article making outlandish allegations against Browder. For example, he was alleged to have been sent to Russia in the 1990s by US intelligence for purposes of destroying the country. Browder thus concluded that this case, for the Russian government, was about destroying him to “knock the foundation out from under the Magnitsky Act” (181).