Bill Browder quotes

Bill Browder is an American-born British financier and political activist, most famous for his work exposing corruption in Russia. His campaign for justice after the death of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky led to the adoption of the Magnitsky Act in several countries. He continues to be a prominent advocate for human rights and anti-corruption efforts worldwide. Here are 33 of his quotes:

For the last ten years, I've been trying to avoid getting killed by Putin's regime, and there already exists a trail of dead bodies connected to its desire to see me dead. (Bill Browder)
Our top targets are the people who tortured and killed Sergei Magnitsky. But our secondary targets are those people who profited from the crime that he was killed over or facilitated the money laundering for those people. View quote
Bill Browder
Russia has a well-known reputation for corruption; unfortunately, I discovered that it was far worse than many had thought. While working in Moscow I learned that Russian oligarchs stole from shareholders, which included the fund I advised. View quote
Bill Browder
Bodyguards offer fake security. The real security comes from having your enemies know nothing about you. View quote
Bill Browder
Russia is an interesting place because they're extremely evil but they're not that good at implementing their evil. View quote
Bill Browder
And most worryingly, it wouldn't surprise me if Putin ends up starting a major military conflict with the West at some point in the future to save his own skin as head of state in Russia. View quote
Bill Browder
Don't engage with corrupt officials under any circumstances. The results are always bad. View quote
Bill Browder
Russia is really a sort of a nonentity when it comes to - the economy is the size of the state of New York. Their military budget is 5 percent of the U.S. military budget. We shouldn't even be thinking about Russia other than the fact that they're sort of putting their nose into every bit of terrible activity all over the world. View quote
Bill Browder
If I could do it all over again, I would have never gone to Russia. View quote
Bill Browder
The Magnitsky law has proven to be a powerful tool. While asset freezes and travel bans against corrupt officials may sound incidental, they have shaken the Putin kleptocracy right down to the core. View quote
Bill Browder
My grandfather was a justice fighter. I go to Russia and I find worse injustice than he had ever discovered. My task was investing people's money. But this was far beyond that. I became this sort of crusader. (Bill Browder)
I'm very realistic about who's coming to my defense. I am my defense. View quote
Bill Browder
On November 13, 2005, as I was flying into Moscow from a weekend away, I was stopped at Sheremetyevo airport, detained for 15 hours, deported, and declared a threat to national security. View quote
Bill Browder
There's never been a time in my life where you had the names the United States and political uncertainty in the same sentence. View quote
Bill Browder
Getting rid of the Magnitsky Act is one of the top, if not the top, priorities of the Putin regime. View quote
Bill Browder
I work with so many levels of British law enforcement, I never know who is working for whom. View quote
Bill Browder
Sergei Magnitsky was murdered as my proxy. If Sergei had not been my lawyer, he would still be alive today. View quote
Bill Browder
While most people in the world probably haven't heard my name, Vladimir Putin thinks about my name on a very regular basis. He really dislikes me because I'm the guy responsible for the Magnitsky Act. View quote
Bill Browder
I am much happier fighting for justice than I ever was fighting for money. View quote
Bill Browder
I'm not saying anyone should go to nuclear war with Russia. What we should do is contain them and show them that there are consequences if they do terrible things, which is what sanctions are all about. View quote
Bill Browder
Interpol was set up to catch fugitives, not act like the long arm of Putin going after his enemies. (Bill Browder)
Putin is a totally inscrutable guy. He gives nothing away. People interpreted what they wanted to see in him. View quote
Bill Browder
When you come from a family of communists and you go through your teenage rebellion, what's the best way of rebelling from a family of communists? Well, I put on a suit and tie and became a capitalist... There was nothing I could do to upset my family more than that. View quote
Bill Browder
Vladimir Putin has to create foreign enemies, and he also has to justify... he has to claim... he can't acknowledge that there's a legitimate protest against his authoritarian rule, so he's got to blame it on Hilary Clinton. View quote
Bill Browder
If the oil price goes down, Russia will go down. You can track the Ruble, you can track the stock market, just off the price of oil. View quote
Bill Browder