Russian Agents 'May Have Killed Whistleblower'
The Russian state security service may have been involved in the death of a whistleblower who was working on a multimillion-pound fraud case, an inquest has heard.
Alexander Perepilichny died while jogging near his home in a private Surrey estate in November 2012.
The Russian businessman was first thought to have died of natural causes, but traces of a chemical found in a poisonous plant, gelsemium elegans, were detected in his body.
The inquest heard the 44-year-old was helping Hermitage Capital Management investigate a £150m money laundering case involving Russian officials.
"A Russian dies in Britain, that is not relevant. If that Russian dies by an obscure poison known only by the FSB, that is relevant," said the company’s lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC.
"The FSB is the core element of Russian government that was involved in the (Alexander) Litvinenko case and may well be involved in this case.
"It is a secret service that Hermitage has upset and (has) left itself open to reprisals."
Mr Robertson told the pre-inquest hearing in Woking: "At this stage there is very strong circumstantial evidence that he was murdered because of the assistance he was giving to Hermitage."
Mr Perepilichny was on an underworld hit list and had received death threats, lawyers told a previous hearing.
Henrietta Hill QC also claimed there were "clear parallels" between his death and that of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in 2009 in a Russian prison.
He was also working for Hermitage - once one of the largest foreign investors in Russia - but was detained after being accused of committing the tax fraud himself.
A Kew Gardens specialist, Professor Monique Simmonds, told the inquest that tests on the substance found in Mr Perepilichny's stomach had been delayed and would not be ready until the end of October.
Senior Surrey Coroner Richard Travers said he could not rule on the full scope of the inquest until then.
Mr Perepilichny’s family say there is no evidence he was killed and their lawyer said the inquest process was "taking its toll" on them.
The full inquest is unlikely to start before February.
