Paris---A tax lawyer's death in a Russian prison in 2009 unleashed a diplomatic storm between Moscow and Washington, and his accusations of fraud carried out by Russian officials have now reached French shores.
Sergei Magnitsky became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia, with his supporters saying that he was unjustly imprisoned and left to die on purpose.
Magnitsky had accused interior ministry officials of organising a $235 million tax scam against the investment company Hermitage Capital, but was then charged with the very crimes he said he had uncovered.
He was placed under pre-trial detention in 2008 and died of untreated illnesses less than a year later.
His American former employer Bill Browder, a major financial player in Russia before he fled in 2005, has been testifying to French judges investigating allegations that some of the funds were laundered through France.
French police last year opened an investigation, which has since been passed on to three judges.
Of particular interest for investigators has been a mysterious company in Saint Tropez on the French Riviera apparently specialising in the export to Russia of high-end French and Italian paints.
The owner, a 58-year-old woman with dual French and Russian citizenship, was charged with fraud and embezzlement last month, a judicial source told AFP.
A probe into the company's accounts found transfers of more than 16 millions euros from the British Virgin Islands and Belize between 2008 and 2013.
The woman in question, who police declined to name for security reasons, enjoys "a high-flying lifestyle", a source close to the investigation said.
The source said that the woman helped organise a system for embezzling Russian public funds through tax scams and shell companies in tax havens.
AFP
