In late July, the Interpol refused to put William Browder on the international list of wanted persons. This decision confused Russia’s Interior Ministry, and now its officials are demanding detailed explanations from Interpol’s General Secretariat as to the organization’s decisions not to issue a red notice for the British national.

The Russian Interior Ministry held a press conference on the issue of Interpol’s refusal to cooperate and shared a great deal of information with the media. The Ministry expects the Interpol’s General Secretariat to explain the organization’s actions in the near future.

The Interpol announced its decision through its website and rejected Russia’s application to add Browder to the list of wanted individuals. The reason for Russia’s request to the Interpol is that Browder conducted a major embezzlement scheme and was sentenced to a term of nine years by a district court in Moscow.

Representatives of the Ministry told reporters that they were of the opinion that Interpol is an organization that makes its decision by considering the actual facts in light of the international policies and the constitution of the organization, unaffected by political pressure.

During the press conference, the Ministry made it very clear that Russian laws state that any individual who commits a crime in the territory of the Russian Federation is criminally responsible for his act, whether he is a Russian citizen or a foreigner. Russia wanted to add William Browder’s name to the international list of wanted people.

William Browder was the co-founder and chief executive officer of an investment fund named Hermitage Capital Management. Browder has been accused of stealing Gazprom shares that are worth over three billion roubles.

The Ministry’s representative went on to say that the Interpol’s office in Russia has already sent a request to the organization’s Secretariat after it received the demand from the Prosecutor General’s office in Russia. The application requested putting Browder on the wanted list because he embezzled large amounts of money, which is considered a serious crime in Russia.

Sources state that Browder paid nearly two billion roubles to acquire 130 million shares of the biggest gas producer in Russia Gazprom. This acquisition of Gazprom securities took place between 1999 and 2004. During these years, Russian laws required all foreigners to obtain permission from the Russian government and the Federal Securities Commission before they acquired shares or purchased receipts at the stock exchanges.

Browder established several legal entities in Kalmykia so that he could make unlawful deals and accomplish his objective. As such, along with other individuals, he opened up accounts at Gazprom’s depository center and tried to obtain Russian securities. Later on, Browder submitted an application so that he could obtain shares on behalf of other interested and affiliated agencies. Browder did not reveal the percentages of foreign capital in the entities he controlled and on whose behalf he acquired the securities. According to the Ministry, Browder conducted about 30 illegal transactions, all of which involved buying and selling Gazprom’s shares. The prosecutors assert that these fraudulent deals caused Russia a loss of nearly three billion roubles.