STRIKE THE TRUTH

What happens when a highly regarded botanist finds traces of poison in the victims s ystem, but the official toxicology reports come up with nothing? How can we know the exact cause of death of Mr Perepilichnyy when the experts themselves are fighting with the evidence? And the final question is how is it possible that there is confusion with evidence if the investigation is processed properly in the first place? Lets see how the police botched the case in this final installation in our Perepilichnyy series. POLICE INVESTIGATION  There has been a lot of controversy and confusion in this case, and how the police handled it. The insurance company, Legal & General, that was providing life insurance for Perepilichnyy launched an investigation into his case as they suspected he died of murder. They signed on a botanist called Monique Simmonds to test whether there was poison presented in his system. She worked at Kew Gardens and had a reputation for helping in these matters. Botanis...

Alexander Perepilichnyy had a strong conscience, and wanted to do something fair and just. Or, maybe he saw an opportunity to clear his name and return back to Russia with his family. Was that the thing that got him killed? Magnitsky also wanted to do the right thing, and report a crime to the authorities, and he was the one that ended up in jail instead, and died in a very painful way. In this installation, we explore why these two Russian nationals were punished by the state for trying to fight crime.  Magnitsky's funeral  Picking up from Part 2 , we left off that Magnitsky died in jail from poor health and ill-treatment. Browder, angry and hurt, wanted to get revenge on his associate's death. So, he took to the media and YouTube. He published a long expose in a major Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta , and there they included handwritten letters from Sergei Magnitsky professing his innocence.  Handwritten letter from Sergey Magnistky  The newspap...

As we discussed in Part 1 , Alexander Perepilichnyy died in mysterious circumstances when he collapsed a few hundred meters from his house. He was a healthy, mid-40s average man with no discernible health issues. The coroner ruled his death as natural and said it was probably an exercise-induced heart attack. However, friends and family close to Alexander believe that the police dropped the ball in this investigation and that Mr Perepilichnyy died from poisoning by the Russian government. In Part 2, we will have further in this mysterious case.  Alexander Perepilichnyy To look at the events that may have led to Alexander's death, we first have to dive into his entrepreneurial past. In our first post, we covered that Mr Perepilichnyy made his money from lucrative business deals in various industries, even though his education was in science. Alexander always wanted to make money, how he made it was the thing that changed.  TURNING POINT AT UNIVERSITY   He attended studies ...

A Russian whistle-blower who revealed fraud of over $220 million dollars by Russian senior officials, collapses and dies while jogging. He was 44-years-old, and by all accounts healthy. The official coroner report states that he died of a heart attack, but others close to the millionaire say he was on a Russian hit list and poisoned. So, the question that remains is what killed Alexander Perepilichnyy? Alexander Perepilichnyy EARLY AND PERSONAL LIFE  Alexander Yurevich Perepilichnyy was originally from West Ukraine. His father was a surgeon who died in relation to the Chernobyl disaster. He developed leukaemia and died soon after volunteering to help.  Perepilichnyy was a scientist by education, having studied technical science and physics at well-known Russian university, PhysTech. His passion was to study DNA. While he was a student in Moscow, in the 1980s, he met his wife Tatiana, and they had two children together after they finished their studies. While he w...

This week was very busy in the world of investigative journalism, the Pandora Papers data leak caused furore amongst the whole world, and the news outlets reported in a frenzy. The 12 million files that were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reveals how the rich and famous are hiding their wealth in offshore accounts in tax haven paradises all around the world. They use clever accountants and various techniques to hide their identities, evade paying taxes to their own countries, and not report (sometimes criminally) acquired funds.   WHO: The Pandora Papers target a broad spectrum of people including, politically exposed people, celebrities, criminals, CEOs and owners of some of the largest companies, and some of the wealthiest people in the world. The Pandora Papers has revealed information on over 27,000 companies, and about 29,000 beneficial owners. There was information from over 330 politicians and people working in the public ...