November 28, 2012 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Nov 28, 2012

TODAY: Supergrass in Magnitsky case found dead in U.K.; Mityaev fears fate in pretrial detention; Latynina on Malofeyev; Russian billionaires and Britain’s offshore tax havens; Medvedev signs cooperation agreement in France, promises not to convert Russia’s euro reserves; MegaFon IPO; Dagestani fighter released; the return of the cossacks.

Alexander Perepilichnyy, the U.K.-based Russian businessman (and ‘supergrass) who had provided evidence in the tax fraud case uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, has died, aged just 44 and ‘in seemingly good health’.  The Independent says that Perepilichnyy was a key witness in the Magnitsky fraud case, and ‘the fourth person to be linked to the scandal who has died suddenly.’  Imprisoned Defense Ministry head Dmitry Mityaev fears he will meet the same fate as Magnitsky, whose corruption case he allegedly helped to build.  Meanwhile Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a suspect in the fraud case tied to Anatoly Serdyukov (and reportedly, Serdyukov’s lover) is asking to be released from pretrial house arrest.  Yulia Latynina wonders why Konstantin Malofeyev was able to become ‘a powerful player in the communications sector’ since his fraudulent business transactions in 2007.  A criminal case has been opened as a result of complaints by inmates at the Kopeisk prison where a strike was held over the weekend.  Russian billionaires like Vladimir Antonov flee to London due to ‘Britain’s friendly regime of offshore secrecy’, says the Guardian.