Narco World > Duterte on his way to The Hague; Dutch influencers arrested in Dubai; Mexican Cartel founder get Life in prison

 

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte arrested on ICC warrant

Asia / Pacific

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday on an ICC warrant alleging that he oversaw crimes against humanity linked to mass killings during his crackdown on drugs. Duterte is en route to the Hague, according to local media reports. 

Issued on: 11/03/2025 - 05:14Modified: 11/03/2025 - 14:33

3 min

By:

FRANCE 24Follow

FRANCE 24

03:49

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech during the proclamation rally for his political party PDP, Philippines, February 13, 2025. © Eloisa Lopez, Reuters

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila by police acting on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.

The 79-year-old faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder", according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

"As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice -- this is oppression and persecution," Duterte's eldest daughter said in a statement.

The former president had earlier gone on Instagram live to say he believed the Philippine Supreme Court would step in and prevent his transfer to the international tribunal.

"The Supreme Court will not agree to that. We do not have an extradition treaty," he said after his lawyers filed a petition with the court. 

02:44

Duterte was arrested at the airport after "Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC", the presidential palace said in a morning statement.

In an earlier video, Duterte had demanded to know the basis of his arrest.

"So what is the law and what is the crime that I committed? Show to me now the legal basis of my being here," he said.

Duterte's former chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, slammed his detention as "unlawful".

"The (police) didn't allow one of his lawyers to meet him at the airport and to question the legal basis for (the) arrest," he said.

Reactions from those who opposed Duterte's drug war, however, were jubilant.

One group working to support mothers of those killed in the crackdown called the arrest a "very welcome development".

"The mothers whose husbands and children were killed because of the drug war are very happy because they have been waiting for this for a very long time," Rubilyn Litao, coordinator for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, told AFP.

"Now that Duterte has been arrested, (President) Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should make sure that he is actually delivered to the ICC for detention and trial," said Philippine rights alliance Karapatan, calling the arrest "long overdue".

China, however, warned the ICC against "politicisation" and "double standards" in the Duterte case, saying it was "closely monitoring the development of the situation".

A winding path

Duterte's Tuesday morning arrest at Manila's international airport followed a brief trip to Hong Kong.

Speaking to thousands of overseas Filipino workers there Sunday, the former president decried the investigation, labelling ICC investigators "sons of whores" while saying he would "accept it" if an arrest were to be his fate.

The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte's instructions, but the tribunal maintained it had jurisdiction over killings before the pullout, as well as killings in the southern city of Davao when Duterte was mayor, years before he became president.

It launched a formal inquiry in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

The case resumed in July 2023 after a five-judge panel rejected the Philippines' objection that the court lacked jurisdiction.

Since then, the Marcos government has on numerous instances said it would not cooperate with the investigation.

But Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office Claire Castro on Sunday said that if Interpol would "ask the necessary assistance from the government, it is obliged to follow".

Duterte is still hugely popular among many in the Philippines who supported his quick-fix solutions to crime, and he remains a potent political force. 

He is running to reclaim his job as mayor of his stronghold Davao in May's mid-term election.

Charges have been filed locally in a handful of cases related to drug operations that led to deaths -- only nine police have been convicted for slaying alleged drug suspects.

A self-professed killer, Duterte instructed police to fatally shoot narcotics suspects if their lives were at risk and insisted the crackdown saved families and prevented the Philippines from turning into a "narco-politics state".

At the opening of a Philippine Senate probe into the drug war in October, Duterte said he offered "no apologies, no excuses" for his actions.

"I did what I had to do, and whether or not you believe it or not, I did it for my country," he said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Dutch brother influencers arrested in Dubai

on drug charges

Dutch self-proclaimed multimillionaire brothers Samuel (25) and Ruben (23) Onuha have been arrested in Dubai, multiple sources confirmed to De Telegraaf. Their arrest is reportedly linked to drug-related charges, though authorities have not disclosed specific details.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged being aware of the arrest but stated that it has not been asked to provide legal assistance. The brothers’ family declined to comment on the situation, and it remains unclear who is representing them legally. Dubai police have referred inquiries to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has not responded, reportedly due to Ramadan.

The Onuha brothers, known for flaunting their wealth on social media, have reportedly become the talk of Dubai. Their arrest has sparked widespread discussion among influencers on YouTube and TikTok. Samuel, who founded the online fashion brand Icon Amsterdam in 2018, has previously claimed to have sold hundreds of thousands of pants and amassed a fortune of 30 million euros.

In Dubai, the brothers lived a high-profile lifestyle, frequently displaying luxury cars, expensive watches, and private jet trips. They also promoted dropshipping masterclasses, advertising the potential for massive earnings. In online videos, they claimed to generate millions per week through e-commerce. Samuel once stated, “The world rewards risk-takers.”

Despite their success claims, the actual financial performance of Icon Amsterdam is unclear. The company’s latest available financial statement from 2022 does not indicate the alleged multimillion-euro revenues. The company has not provided clarification, and its customer service reports significant delays in responding to inquiries. The investigation into the Onuha brothers’ case in Dubai remains ongoing.

Notorious Mexican cartel leader gets life in prison, $6B fine for drug trafficking, firearms offenses

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Monday, March 10, 2025

The national flag of Mexico hoisted above the National Palace government offices in the Zocalo de la Mexico City, Mexico. | Getty Images

One of the founders of a powerful Mexican cartel will spend the rest of his life in federal prison after a court imposed a life sentence plus 30 years on major drug trafficking and firearms charges. He must also forfeit more than $6 billion in illicit proceeds.

U.S.-Mexican dual national and co-founder of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, 34-year-old Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, received the sentence in the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Friday.

Prosecutors confirmed that he oversaw the importation of multi-ton shipments of illegal drugs into the U.S. and directed violent acts on behalf of the cartel.

According to officials, he personally killed five individuals who owed him money, and he shot both a rival cartel member and a subordinate. Investigators found that he carried firearms, including a rifle and grenade launcher bearing his nickname, which he used to threaten Mexican law enforcement during his arrest.

Court documents also noted that he ordered the murder of more than 100 people, and he participated in some of those killings himself.

“This defendant helped build Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion into a brutal terrorist organization that pumps poison onto our streets and commits horrific acts of violence,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

Oseguera-Gonzalez co-founded the cartel with his father, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, who remains a fugitive.

Oseguera-Gonzalez’s role included trafficking more than 50 metric tons of cocaine and overseeing laboratories that produced at least 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine in Mexico. Court filings revealed that he contributed to the early stages of a fentanyl operation and once pledged to “do it big” by creating counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl.

Oseguera-Gonzalez’s leadership in the CJNG spanned nearly seven years in Mexico. During this period, he reportedly provided weapons and orchestrated brutal activities to maintain cartel operations.

He directed a 2015 attack on a Mexican military helicopter. The helicopter was shot down while pursuing Oseguera-Gonzalez and his father, leading to the death of at least nine Mexican service members and permanently disfiguring at least one other.

The Department of Justice confirmed that Oseguera-Gonzalez’s intent was to evade capture, and the incident delayed efforts by Mexican authorities to apprehend him.

Oseguera-Gonzalez operated on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The cartel’s geographic reach included several Mexican states, as well as shipments that infiltrated American markets.

Last month, a binational enforcement operation between Mexico and the U.S. disrupted a cartel-linked smuggling network that allegedly kidnapped migrants and extorted their families. Mexican authorities arrested two suspects, identified as Brian Alan Torres Gonzalez and Soledad Morales Nava, who will face prosecution in Mexico with evidence from U.S. officials.

Officials believe it not only moved adults but also children from Central America into El Paso, Texas, allegedly demanding payment before completing the migrants’ entry into the U.S.

===============================================================================================

Canadian Justice > Canada - Ground Zero for car thefts - Interpol

 

Interpol data confirms Canada is

‘ground zero’ for car thefts: experts

By Sean Previl  Global News

Posted July 10, 2024 2:07 pm

 Updated July 10, 2024 2:09 pm

 3 min read

As government, police and other stakeholders work to combat Canada’s auto theft crisis, a May report from Interpol says the country ranks among the top 10 countries in hits it has received in its database of stolen motor vehicles this year, with some calling it “ground zero.”

According to the agency, that ranking comes just three months after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police integrated the Canadian Police Information Centre’s stolen vehicle database with Interpol’s own. Prior to that integration, all entries on the database were submitted manually.

Since then, more than 1,500 vehicles stolen in Canada have been detected globally in just three months. In addition, the RCMP’s database has details on about 150,000 vehicles stolen in Canada and, since February, more than 200 have been identified weekly as law enforcement checks their information, typically at ports of entry.

“We’ve been calling this a national auto theft crisis for over a year now,” Liam McGuinty, vice-president strategy at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told Global News.

In 2022 alone, more than 105,000 vehicles were stolen across Canada, according to IBC.

Those thefts cost money. IBC released a list of the costliest cities for auto theft in 2023, and Toronto sat on top for Ontario with a 561 per cent increase over the past five years, with about $371 million in claims.

McGuinty said auto theft claims amounted to $1.5 billion nationally last year.

The increase came from a “perfect storm” of the COVID-19 pandemic causing supply chain issues, in addition to problems involving availability and cost of vehicles.

2:12

Ontario police warn about high risk of carjackings, home invasions

“I think organized crime in Canada has found a way to successfully export cars to destination markets,” he said, noting Interpol also highlighted the Middle East and Africa.

Interpol said in May that stolen vehicles have become an “international criminal currency,” and car theft has become part of a “major revenue stream” for organized crime. The agency added, however, that global data sharing allows for better screening of vehicles at border points, identification trafficking routes and arrests of those involved.+

In a statement to Global News, the RCMP said that its CPIC database was accessible to foreign law enforcement, but integration with Interpol was needed due to lack of awareness.

“It is helping foreign police stop stolen Canadian cars and giving police everywhere leads to track down and disrupt the gangs responsible,” the RCMP wrote in an email.

2:11

$33.2M worth of stolen vehicles recovered, many at Port of Montreal: Peel police

A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc added that auto theft requires insurance companies, manufacturers, law enforcement and other stakeholders to identify solutions, with each partner having a role in prevention and recovery.

He forgot to mention Canada's Justice system which ensures that those arrested for car theft are back out on the streets to continue their business within hours. This is normal under Trudeau's policy of keeping criminals out of jails. Bail need to be much harder to get. Sentences need to be increased (I suggest doubling the sentence for each similar conviction). 

Elliott Silverstein, the director of government relations for Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) Insurance, told Global News while Canada is not alone in auto theft, the country is still in a tough spot.

“We are certainly a ground zero for vehicle theft around the world,” he said.

He, alongside Interpol, notes Canada has a collection of high-value vehicles that are enticing to auto thieves, such as sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossovers.

Silverstein said governments and law enforcement have made efforts to deter theft — such as banning certain devices that could be used for theft — but more effort should be made. This includes car manufacturers working to make vehicles harder to steal and making it harder to get vehicles out of ports that are used.

“This is the equivalent in Canada on an annual basis of having a catastrophic incident like a flood or hurricane or wildfire, but it happening every single day of the year through the year with no end in sight,” Silverstein said.

However, McGuinty adds it will take a “whole of society approach” to solve the crisis because just tackling one area where it’s happening (the East Coast, for example) won’t be enough to stop it.

“If you clamp down on one pain point or one problem area, it’s a game of whack-a-mole. It will pop up somewhere else,” McGuinty said.

============================================================================================

Russian Tycoon Khodorkovsky got Oil Giant Yukos with a Bribe & Robbed Western Shareholders

Corruption is Everywhere - And Most Definitely in Russia

FILE PHOTO: Mikhail Khodorkovsky. ©  Reuters / Axel Schmidt

A TV report, citing an ongoing probe, claims Russian oligarch-turned-opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky took control over the oil giant Yukos by bribing its managers and then siphoned off billions of dollars from shareholders.

Having spent a decade in prison in Russia after being found guilty of tax evasion and embezzlement, Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, may now face more charges. A new probe into his activities, launched by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, has revealed that the businessman laid his hands on the now-defunct oil giant as a result of a shady deal, the report by the Russia’s NTV Channel says.

It reveals that, in the mid-1990s, Khodorkovsky managed to win the right for his companies to buy almost 80 percent of Yukos’s shares by bribing the company’s management. The businessman allegedly promised the then-Yukos director Sergey Muravlenko and three more top managers to pay them an equivalent of 15 percent of the oil giant’s shares – or some $2 billion – Salavat Karimov, an adviser to Russia’s Prosecutor General, told NTV.

“He indeed transferred hundreds of millions [of dollars] to the offshore accounts opened in the names of these four Yukos top managers,” Karimov said.

While he did not name the exact sum of the bribe money, NTV reported that it amounted to $250 million. The top managers then lobbied for Yukos shares to be mostly handed over to the “effective investor” Khodorkovsky, which his company eventually purchased for a giveaway price of just $9 million. It also obtained a right to buy additional 45 percent of shares as a result of a “special clause.”

While Khodorkovsky has already faced charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, a major revelation seems to be that he fooled Yukos’s minor shareholders big-time, with a whopping $51 billion siphoned off to offshore accounts, according to the probe. 

The businessman employed “dozens” of criminal schemes to rob his business partners, which reportedly included JP Morgan, Barclays, Raiffeisen Bank, UBS, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. In particular, he bought oil from Yukos affiliates at dumping prices, presenting it as “borehole liquid,” and then sold it on at full price.

The money went to offshore accounts in the British territories – the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar and the Guernsey islands. They were then laundered through a specially created company Quadrum, which purchased real estate in the UK and the US. According to Karimov, some $10 billion was also transferred to the Netherlands.

Khodorkovsky, who is currently based in London and enjoys the limelight of accorded to a top Vladimir Putin critic in the west, has dismissed the information published by NTV, saying he “could not care less” about what he called a “sham investigation.”

The former oil tycoon was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2005 following a lengthy legal battle, which was increased to 11 years after the second trial ended in late 2010. He was pardoned by President Putin in 2013 and left Russia for Germany, Switzerland and then the UK.

In 2015, Russian prosecutors accused Khodorkovsky of ordering the murder of the mayor of Siberian city Nefteyugansk, Vladimir Petukhov, and an attempted assassination of businessman Evgeny Rybin. He was then placed on an international wanted list.

Counterfeit Medicines, from Headache Pills to Cancer Drugs, have Become a $200-Billion Problem

Jonathon Gatehouse · CBC News 

Tonnes of counterfeit and illegal medicine are seen after a 2015 seizure in Dakar. A similar week-long, Interpol-coordinated blitz last fall saw authorities in 116 countries seize 500 tonnes of fake pharmaceuticals worth an estimated $14 million US. (Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization is warning cancer patients in North America and Europe about a batch of fake drugs that contain nothing but a common painkiller.

The product alert, released earlier this month, says that counterfeit medicine packaged to look like the cancer drug Iclusig, known generically as ponatinib — a targeted therapy for chronic myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia — simply contains acetaminophen.

The fakes, first discovered by a Swiss wholesaler, have also been detected in Turkey and Argentina. They were being sold online at a fraction of the more than $16,000 US that American pharmacies currently charge for a one-month supply of the drug.

Of course, if Big Pharma didn't charge such extraordinary prices, there would be less incentive for counterfeiting. 

Counterfeit or substandard pharmaceuticals are a big business,

worth an estimated $200 billion US a year.

In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, where the bulk of the fakes are sold, the WHO estimates that as many as 116,000 people die due to ineffective malaria medication each year. It adds that the counterfeits are adding hundreds of millions to health care costs, due to the treatment and hospitalization of people who might not have otherwise been infected.

So this counterfeiting is really a form of massacring hundreds of thousands of people and causing unnecessary suffering for many millions more. 

Bottles of counterfeit Viagra, confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protections. Counterfeit or substandard pharmaceuticals are a big business, worth an estimated $200 billion US a year worldwide. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A week-long, Interpol-coordinated blitz last fall saw authorities in 116 countries seize 500 tonnes of fake pharmaceuticals worth an estimated $14 million US. The haul included anti-inflammatory medication, birth control pills, and counterfeit treatments for HIV, Parkinson's and diabetes. (Investigators also found more than 110,000 fake medical devices like hearing aids, contact lens and syringes.) The seizures resulted in 859 arrests and the closure of 3,671 weblinks.

In recent years, Health Canada has been waging a battle against counterfeit Viagra, Cialis and Levitra — sometimes containing too little of the active ingredient, and sometimes too much. All of it widely available online at a steep discount from the $15 per prescription pill.

I was in Algodonez, Mexico several years ago when I entered a pharmacy type store to pick up some ointment my daughter had asked for. As I was about to pay, the guy behind the counter, without explanation, threw a bag of pills on the counter. It was an unmarked, clear, plastic bag with several dozen pills. He wanted about $30 US, if I remember correctly. My two friends broke out laughing as I slowly realized what I was being offered. I simply said, "I'm not there yet!" and left. God only knows what was really in those pills.

Authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are currently dealing with a spate of overdose deaths linked to fake Valium and Xanax. The pills, which are being pressed in the U.K. from materials made in Far East drug labs, differ dramatically in strength with every batch, and sometimes contain entirely differently sedatives than the brand names.

No one is quite sure how to best tackle the global fake drug crisis.

Workers pile 50 tonnes of fake medicine for incineration after it was confiscated in Abidjan in 2017. Several nations

around the world are turning to tracking systems to help buyers and sellers determine whether medicine is genuine.

(Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images)

West African nations are talking about creating their own pharmaceutical firms to try ensure that quality products make it to local markets. Kenyan authorities plan to roll out a system of country-specific codes that pharmacists and consumers can track via a smartphone app, ensuring that they are selling and buying real, government-approved medicine.  

Some believe that blockchain systems might provide the answer, documenting every step of a drug's journey from manufacturer to consumer.

Although it's unclear if any technology will ever be able to trump politics.

This past weekend, the European Union finally debuted its own continent-wide system to fight and track fake drugs, which has been more than four years in the making.

But the U.K. will no longer have access come March 30, if it fails to reach a Brexit divorce agreement. Almost three-quarters of the prescription drugs used by the National Health Service (Britain) are made in Europe.

The Interpol blitz happened just last October so it is too early to know the consequences to be suffered by those arrested. They must be treated as nothing short of mass murderers as should all criminals who cut their street drugs with fentanyl. 

Interpol Chief Warns Europe of ISIS 2.0 When Jihadists Serving Minor Sentences Leave Jail

FILE PHOTO © REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Europe should brace itself for a new wave of terrorist attacks when Islamic State supporters serving short sentences begin to emerge from jail in a few years, the head of Interpol has warned.

The next big terrorist threat in Europe could come from IS supporters currently in prison for minor terrorism-related crimes, according to Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock. As they leave jail in the coming years, their radical beliefs are likely to trigger a relapse.

“In many parts of the world, in Europe but also Asia, this generation of early supporters will be released in the next couple of years, and they may again be part of a terrorist group or those supporting terrorist activities,” Stock said, estimating that the average jailed jihadist is serving a sentence of between two and five years.

“We could soon be facing a second wave of other Islamic State-linked or radicalized individuals that you might call ISIS 2.0,” he told the Anglo-American Press Association, as cited by the Guardian.

Possible members of IS sleeper cells aside, there is an ongoing threat of returning terrorists fleeing Iraq and Syria since the demise of Islamic State. Those disenchanted fighters with nothing to lose have become a major issue for local law enforcement.

“The security agencies are concerned about when they are coming back because most of them are battle hardened, they are trained, and they are internationally connected,” Stock said, noting that going to Syria and Iraq in the first place “was a huge opportunity to network on an international level.”

“These contacts still exist and we shouldn’t forget that,” he said.

It’s a guessing game as to where the retreating jihadists are going to flee when they’re squeezed out of Syria and Iraq. One of the probable destinations is southeast Asia or Africa, where there are still terrorist hotbeds. Another option for the jihadists is to keep a low profile and try to sneak back into Europe.

“With ISIS defeated geographically, these individuals will either try to move to other areas of conflict in southeast Asia, or Africa, or remain in Europe to carry out attacks,” Stock said.

Interpol has some 45,000 suspected foreign fighters in its database but it’s a Sisyphean task for local police to track them down, as many have perished on the battlefield, some are holed up in Syria or Iraq, and the whereabouts of many others is unknown.

Intelligence agencies in many countries, including in Europe, which has seen a spate of Islamist-linked terrorist attacks in recent years, have sounded the alarm over the threat posed by returnees.

Germany’s intelligence chief has warned that the children of jihadists coming from war zones can grow up to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Hans-Georg Maassen called for both widows and children of IS fighters to be treated as jihadists, arguing that they pose a considerable security risk after being brainwashed by IS propaganda.

The same concerns were echoed by the authorities in France, which has welcomed at least 300 jihadist militants back from Syria and Iraq. There have been calls for French citizens arrested on terrorist charges in Syria and Iraq to be tried there rather than brought back to France.

The solution that will never be implemented

The only credible way of dealing with jihadists is to segregate them from the rest of society. Their goals are to kill, destroy, disrupt, and cause terror in society, and it will be impossible to prevent that from happening without segregation.

Segregation can only come through the declaration of radical Muslims as clinically insane. As Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian psychiatrist wrote: “I came to the absolute conviction that it is impossible…impossible…for any human being to read the biography of Mohammed and believe in it, and then emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.” 

Consequently, anyone espousing jihadist philosophy must be declared insane and locked up until he/she renounces radical Islam. It's pretty simple; but no politically correct government will ever have the courage to implement it.

Bill Browder - Hero or Villain? Where's the Truth?

Yesterday, Bill Browder accused GOP Congressman Rohrabacher of being a Russian stooge. He had no proof, only the accusations that Rohrabacher was trying to undue some of what Browder has 'accomplished'; things like the Magnitsky Act. Rohrabacher accused Browder of intimidation, which, he thought, was suspicious in itself.

Bill Browder Escapes Again

by philip giraldi, Ron Paul Institute

There was some good and bad news last week. The good news was that William Browder, a London-based investor and dedicated foe of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin was arrested by the Spanish police on Wednesday. The bad news is that even though Russia has on six occasions requested Browder’s arrest through Interpol for tax fraud, the Spanish national police determined that Browder had been detained in error because the international warrant was no longer valid and released him.

Interpol, an organization of 190 countries cannot legally enforce any action of a “political character.” This can make it difficult to obtain red notices such as those being sought by Russia on Browder, which are the equivalent of international arrest warrants.

One might reasonably ask why there is a crisis in US-Russia relations at all since Washington and Moscow have much more in common than not, to include confronting international terrorism, stabilizing Syria and other parts of the world that are in turmoil, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In spite of all that, the US and Russia are currently locked in a tit-for-tat unfriendly relationship somewhat reminiscent of the Cold War and it is only getting worse as self-appointed “experts” including Browder continue to prowl the fringes of policy making. Browder was in Spain to testify in a case against several Russian companies.

That William Browder might be regarded as controversial is somewhat of an understatement. Many who regard him as a crook serving as a catalyst for the bad policies relating to the US-Russia relationship would like to see him in jail. Israel Shamir, a keen observer of the American-Russian relationship, and celebrated American journalist Robert Parry both think that Browder single-handedly deserves much of the credit for the new Cold War.

William Browder, the grandson of Earl Browder, former head of the American Communist Party, is a hedge fund operator who made his fortune in the corrupt 1990s world of Russian commodities trading. One of many Jewish profiteers who descended on Russia, his current role is symptomatic of why the United States government is so poorly informed about overseas developments as he appears before Congress frequently and is the source of much of the “testimony” contributing to the current bad international climate. He has somehow emerged as a trusted source in spite of the fact that he has considerable interest in cultivating a certain outcome favorable to himself. Also ignored is his renunciation of American citizenship in 1998, reportedly to avoid taxes. He is now a British citizen.

Browder is notoriously the man behind the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which exploited Congressional willingness to demonize Russia and has done so much to poison relations between Washington and Moscow. The Act has sanctioned individual Russian officials, which Moscow has rightly seen as unwarranted interference in the operation of its judicial system.

Browder, a media favorite who self-promotes as “Putin’s enemy #1,” portrays himself as a selfless human rights advocate, but is he? He has used his fortune to threaten lawsuits for anyone who challenges his version of events, effectively silencing many critics. He claims that his accountant Sergei Magnitsky was a crusading "lawyer" who discovered a $230 million tax-fraud scheme that involved the Browder business interest Hermitage Capital but was, in fact, engineered by corrupt Russian police officers who arrested Magnitsky and enabled his death in a Russian jail.

Many have been skeptical of the Browder narrative, suspecting that the fraud was in fact concocted by Browder and his accountant Magnitsky. A Russian court has supported that alternative narrative, ruling in late December 2013 that Browder had deliberately bankrupted his company and engaged in tax evasion. He was sentenced to nine years prison in absentia.

William Browder has also been regularly in the news in connection with testimony related to Russiagate. On December 16, 2017 Senator Diane Feinstein of the Senate Judiciary Committee released the transcript of the testimony provided by Glenn Simpson, founder of Fusion GPS. According to James Carden, Browder was mentioned 50 times, but the repeated citations apparently did not merit inclusion in media coverage of the story by the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico. Browder has become such an essential asset in the media story about “evil” Russia that he has become in a certain sense bullet proof in spite of his own personal very questionable history.

Fusion GPS, which was involved in the research producing the Steele Dossier used to discredit Donald Trump, was also retained to provide investigative services relating to a lawsuit in New York City involving a Russian company called Prevezon. As information provided by Browder was the basis of the lawsuit, his company and business practices while in Russia became part of the investigation. Simmons maintained that Browder proved to be somewhat evasive and his accounts of his activities were inconsistent. He claimed never to visit the United States and not own property or do business there, all of which were untrue, to include his ownership through a shell company of a $10 million house in Aspen Colorado. He repeatedly ran away, literally, from attempts to subpoena him so he would have to testify under oath.

Per Simmons, in Russia, Browder used shell companies locally and also worldwide to avoid taxes and conceal ownership, suggesting that he was likely one of many corrupt businessmen operating in what was a wild west business environment. My question is, “Why was such a man granted credibility and allowed a free run to poison the vitally important US-Russia relationship?” The answer might be follow the money. Israel Shamir reports that Browder was a major contributor to Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, who was the major force behind the Magnitsky Act.

Cardin and others in Congress have made Russia the bete noir of American politics, finding it convenient to scapegoat Moscow for the failure of the United States to put together a coherent and functioning foreign policy. Bill Browder is an essential component in that effort. Perhaps someone should ask him how he became a billionaire in a corrupt Russia going through political crisis and democratization in the 1990s. It would be interesting to learn what he has to say in his defense.

We may never really know what happened in Russia when Browder made his fortune. But it seems clear that he didn't play ball with the other oligarchs. I'm quite sure that no-one is innocent in this entire affair, least of all the Russian government, but it's unfortunate that the American government and media take Browder's accusations as Gospel because it fits their current narrative,  instead of casting doubts upon his story and his character as anyone interested in the truth would do.

Doesn't anyone truly desire the truth anymore?