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

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Bill Browder is the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005. This personal account of Browder's battle for justice is at times terrifying, at times deeply touching - and leads inexorably to a vast money-laundering scheme the Kremlin will seemingly stop at nothing to cover up. One, a breakneck financial thriller compelling breathless attention; another, a true story, crisply told, of a country’s looting on a gigantic scale; a third, a morality tale of how liars first have to carry on lying, then simply abolish the truth; and fourth, and not least, a stimulating essay on Vladimir Putin’s motivation that sheds light on his monstrous war in Ukraine. Then in 2003 Putin jailed Mikhail Khodorkovsky, at the time the richest oligarch in Russia, and instead of opposing corruption, began putting the squeeze on the duly intimidated oligarchy. He spoke quickly to the officers, and then said, “These gentlemen will give you a few moments to pack.

It’s a fear that Alexandre Dumas and Alfred Hitchcock tapped into to dramatic effect, but what is most troubling here is how acquiescent the western establishment has been to Russian crimes and lies. Bill Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005. An essential work by someone who understood long before the rest of the world did just how far corrupt Russian officials and businesspeople will go to defend their ill-gotten wealth, and how foreign lawyers, lobbyists and public relations firms enable them. What if, instead of driving me to the police station, they drove me to an airstrip, put me on a private plane, and whisked me off to Moscow? He set up Hermitage Capital Management, with the help of the Monaco-based billionaire Edmond Safra (later to die in a fire started by one of his servants).He scanned my passport and fed the credit card—a Black American Express Card to which I’d recently been upgraded—into a chip reader. When I arrived at my hotel that evening, the manager scurried over to the check-in desk and ushered the clerk aside. Bill Browder has shown that one man with courage can make a difference, and that even the most powerful regimes have weak spots.

I've just complete Bill's book and have been left feeling incredibly angry, shocked and fearful but predominantly, amazed at the tenacity and bravery shown by those mentioned in this deep expose of Putin and his cabal of liars, thieves and murderers. Thereafter Browder, a naturalised Briton based in London, dedicated himself to gaining justice for his friend, primarily by lobbying for the Magnitsky Act – a bill that authorised the US government to sanction human rights offenders and freeze their assets.Moreover, if the manager had known the nature of my visit—talking to law enforcement officials about the sort of Russian gangsters who often booked suites like this—he probably wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic. I would then have 30 days to respond, and the Russians would have another 30 days to respond to my response. Since the murder of Sergei Magnitsky, Browder's advocacy has led to the passage of the Magnitsky Act in 34 countries. I may not have been kidnapped, but I was now in the Spanish criminal justice system on a Russian arrest warrant.