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Tracking the proceeds of the crime denounced by Sergei Magnitsky and holding its perpetrators accountable

Other author
Parliamentary Assembly
Session
2026 - Second part-session

Summary

The Parliamentary Assembly reaffirms its commitment to holding to account those responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky, as well as the beneficiaries of the US$230 million Russian tax fraud that he exposed. Despite various international actions and investigations into the laundering of the proceeds of this fraud, some of the outcomes have proved unsatisfactory, particularly in Switzerland, where serious allegations of misconduct have been levelled against Swiss officials and where the assets of known associates of the Russian state apparatus have not been fully confiscated. Although Switzerland initially seized approximately US$18 million in suspicious assets, the authorities eventually released a large proportion of them. The Assembly deeply regrets the release of these funds to individuals with proven links to the Kremlin. Consequently, the Assembly calls on Switzerland to urgently re-freeze the accounts of the three individuals concerned, to trace the transferred funds, to ratify modern conventions on asset recovery, and to extend measures for confiscation without conviction. Furthermore, the resolution urges all member states and observer states to adopt Magnitsky legislation, calls on the European Union to extend its Magnitsky Act to cover cases of serious corruption, and recommends that the FATF and MONEYVAL promote the reversal of the burden of proof with regard to unexplained wealth.

Voting results

43 in favor 7 against 0 abstention