For a very long time, whenever the richest man on earth is mentioned, a name immediately comes to the mind.
The name of the Microsoft co-owner, American business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist William Henry Gates III also known as Bill Gates comes to mind.
But recent events have made me believe the world and Forbes list authors are wrong and may have misled the people to think Bill Gates was the richest man on earth with a Net Worth of $89 Billion.
Although I am not surprised, as a Nigerian, I have witnessed how corrupt the heart of most leaders are.
I have always believed the art of using political power or position to divert public funds for personal use can only happen in the third world countries.
But boy I was wrong.
WHO IS VLADIMIR PUTIN?
Vladimir Putin is the 2nd and 4th President of the Russian Federation. While out of office, Putin served as the Prime Minister.
According to the Wikipedia page on President Vladimir Putin here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin
Vladimir Putin was born in Leningrad, then part of the Soviet Union, Putin studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University, graduating in 1975.
Putin was a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1991 to enter politics in Saint Petersburg.
He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration, rising quickly through the ranks and becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999, when Yeltsin resigned.
Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election by a 53% to 30% margin, thus avoiding a runoff with his Communist Party of the Russian Federation opponent, Gennady Zyuganov. He was re-elected President in 2004 with 72% of the vote.
During Putin's first presidency, the Russian economy grew for eight straight years, and GDP measured in purchasing power increased by 72%. The growth was a result of the 2000s commodities boom, high oil prices, and prudent economic and fiscal policies.
In September 2011, after presidential terms were extended from four to six years, Putin announced he would seek a third term as president.
He won the March 2012 presidential election with 64% of the vote, a result which aligned with pre-election polling.
Before his election in 2012, Mr. Putin reported having 3.6 million rubles ($113,000).
But opposition politicians believed Mr. Putin had used his position and influence to secretly possesses a multi-billion-dollar fortune via successive ownership of stakes in a number of Russian companies.
In 2015, a paper was leaked out of Panama by an anonymous source that shows that close trustees of Putin own offshore companies worth two billion US-Dollar in total.
The leaked documents contain personal financial data about rich individuals and public servants that had previously been kept private. One Sergei Roldugin, the cellist who happens to be the Russian president’s best friend portrays himself as a modest musician, but leaked documents reveal his role in a secret money-go-round in Panama.
Some of the offshore companies were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions.
You can read more about the leaked paper from Panama here https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore
THEN COMES MAGNITSKY ACTS
The Magnitsky Acts is a law signed by President Obama in December 2012 to punish Russian officials who were thought to be responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky by prohibiting their entrance to the United States and their use of its banking system.
Sergei Magnitsky is a Russian lawyer and auditor who in 2008 discovered a large number of tax fraud and graft involving 23 companies and a total of $230 million linked to the Russian Government and people close to the government.
A year after his discovery, Magnitsky was arrested by Russian authorities and kept in jail without charges. He later died in Jail due to inhuman detention conditions.
Ever since President Obama signed it into law; top Russian Officials including Mr. Putin had been fighting to overturn the Magnitsky Acts.
THE TESTIMONY THAT EXPOSES IT ALL
On July 26, 2017, William Felix Browder the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, an investment firm that at one time was the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia was summoned by the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify in the ongoing Russia meddling into the USA Presidential Election.
In his statements, Mr. Browder said
Based on the language of the Magnitsky Act, this would make Putin personally subject to Magnitsky sanctions.
This is particularly worrying for Putin because he is one of the richest men in the world. I estimate that he has accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains from these types of operations over his 17 years in power. He keeps his money in the West and all of his money in the West is potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation.
You can read Mr. Browder's full testimony on the USA Senate's website here https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/07-26-17%20Browder%20Testimony.pdf
CONCLUSION
- Do you think William Browder is right?
- Is Vladimir Putin the riches man on earth?
- Is he truly after the Magnitsky Act?
I hope to read your insights within the comments below.
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