Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer for Hermitage Capital (an American managed fund investing in Russia) who tried to investigate the theft of money from the fund. His colleagues at Hermitage Capital believe it possible that part of the 63 million dollars laundered through Latvian banks after being stolen from the fund could still be in Latvia.

In July of this year a law firm acting for Hermitage Capital sent a report to Latvian regulatory authorities stating that at least 63 million dollars were laundered in Latvian banks (read the report here).

These millions are part of the 230 million dollar tax rebate to Hermitage Capital which Russian tax authorities granted in 2007 but which the fund never received. Hermitage representatives maintain that the money from the Russian treasury was stolen by high-ranking state officials who used Latvian banks among others to launder the money. When the fund lawyer Magnitsky started to investigate this matter, he was accused of non-payment of taxes and sentenced to prison. After one year of suffering beatings and being denied medical care the father of two sons died in prison in 2009.

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