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

This US law requires “anyone trying to influence US policy on behalf of a foreign government” (222) to register with the Department of Justice. Browder hoped to publicize how Americans, such as Simpson and Moscow, were violating this criminal statute, but he was foiled in his efforts to get an article published because of Simpson’s influence. Senator Chuck Grassley, however, held hearings on the law, at which Browder was invited to testify, and put the spotlight on the DOJ’s lack of enforcement.

The Finrosforum was a conference held in Finland that brought “together all the great and good from the Russian opposition and human rights community” (39). Browder won much-needed support for Magnitsky laws from Russian dissidents when he made a presentation at this conference.

A US law, the Global Magnitsky Act allowed “the US government to impose asset freezes and travel bans on human rights violators and kleptocrats from anywhere in the world, not just Russia” (199). Browder was instrumental in getting this act passed, and he considered it important to his quest for justice.

A hedge fund has monies from private investors and is managed by finance professionals. Hedge funds are often high risk, as they seek to gain above-average returns on investment. Browder ran a profitable hedge fund in Russia before his expulsion in 2005.

The Magnitsky Act, originally passed in the US, “would ban visas and freeze assets of Russian human rights violators, including those who had tortured and killed Sergei” (38). Browder’s goal was to pass such a law in as many countries as possible to target what the Russian criminals cared most about: their money. He argued that Putin was outraged by these laws, which targeted his wealth, and that was why he struck out against advocates.