Oleg Silchenko, 35, was a senior investigator in the Russian Interior Ministry during the period in question. He served as the lead investigator in the 2008 criminal case against Magnitsky, in which the lawyer was charged for the same financial crimes he had uncovered. Silchenko allegedly arranged for Magnitsky's arrest and his brutal treatment in prison in an attempt to make the lawyer withdraw his testimony against Russian officials in the ministry. Silchenko instructed the denial of medical care for Magnitsky, even as the lawyer's condition worsened. He also took over the investigation into the fraud that Magnitsky had discovered, recognizing complicit officials as "victims."
