Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath follows the real-life campaign to uncover a massive Russian tax fraud and the deadly consequences that came with exposing it.
After a young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, dies in a Moscow jail following his work on a $230 million tax refund scheme, the narrator dedicates himself to tracing the stolen money. The investigation reveals a vast web of money laundering that moves funds from Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus into Western Europe and the Americas, with evidence pointing to Vladimir Putin among the beneficiaries.
As international authorities begin to freeze assets, the pushback escalates. Honey traps, legal harassment across multiple countries, targeted killings of allies, and high-powered Western lawyers and politicians are all brought into play to silence the inquiry and protect the flow of illicit wealth.
Freezing Order blends financial investigation, geopolitical intrigue, and personal risk into a narrative about pursuing justice in the face of state-backed intimidation. It offers an inside look at how corrupt regimes move money around the world and what it costs to challenge them.
Key themes
- Global money laundering and financial crime
- Russian politics and state corruption
- Human rights, justice, and personal courage
- Cross-border investigations and asset freezes
