MOSCOW, October 6 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) - Russia's Investigative Committee has once again rejected a motion to resume an investigation into the death of Hermitage Capital Fund auditor Sergei Magnitsky filed by his mother, the statement of the fund reads.

This is the fourth time that Natalya Magnitskaya’s request to resume the inquiry into the circumstances of her son’s death has been denied, according to the statement.

“The decree to close the criminal case was checked using the case materials... This decision is lawful and justified, and no grounds are seen to cancel it” the statement quoted the answer of the Investigative Committee official to Magnitskaya’s request.

Magnitsky worked for Firestone Duncan and represented Hermitage Capital which was accused of tax evasion by Russian authorities. Magnitsky was arrested on fraud charges in November 2008 and found dead in a Moscow detention center in November 2009.

Last July, the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow found Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion and closed the case due to his death. As a result of Magnitsky’s and the Director of Hermitage Capital, William Browder’s activity, the budget of the Russian Federation was shortchanged by over 500 million rubles ($12.5 mn). Browder was sentenced to nine years in prison in absentia.

“The lawyer’s death resulted in a huge public response. The defendants in the case included ex-chief of the Butyrsky Detention Facility, Dmitry Kratov, and the doctor from the facility, Larisa Litvinova. The criminal case against Litvinova was closed due to changes to the Criminal Code, according to which the statute of limitations had expired under the charges. Kratov who was charged with improper execution of his duties, was found not guilty by the Tverskoi Court since there was no relation found between his actions and Magnitsky’s death. Magnitskaya’s representative appealed the ruling in the Moscow City Court and requested the case be reopened. The court ruled against the request.