Bill Browder was once the largest investor in Russia. For a few years he blazed a trail, exposing corruption and scandal at Russia's biggest companies, often by naming and shaming billionaire oligarchs. And he seemed to have a powerful ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin. All that abruptly changed on November 13, 2005, when Browder was stopped at Moscow's international airport and detained for 15 hours. He was expelled and banned from Russia, accused of being a national security threat.

In his new book, "Red Notice", Bill Browder tells his story and explains why Putin turned against him and his Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. After exposing a fraud scandal, Magnitsky was tortured and died in prison. Browder is the man behind the “Magnitsky list”, which imposes a travel ban and asset freeze on Russian officials implicated in the case.
Browder also spoke to FRANCE 24’s Douglas Herbert about last week's assassination of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov. “Putin is the most likely suspect in this murder”, he said. Asked about Putin’s current enemies, of which he considers himself one, he said that “nobody is safe”.
The US businessman added that anyone who was still investing in Russia “needs their head examined”.
Asked about reports of Putin's hidden wealth, Browder said he is convinced the Russian president is unofficially the world's richest man, even wealthier than Bill Gates. "My personal estimate of his net worth is about 200 billion dollars".
Read FRANCE 24’s article: The mysterious fates met by Putin critics

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