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Is #GermanGorbuntsov a political refugee?

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Who is German Gorbuntsov (pictured)? Is he a Russian agent living in London? Is he in the pay of the British Intelligence services? Or, is he just an unprincipled rogue playing the British off against the Russians as a double agent, writes James Wilson?

For the past eight years German Gorbuntsov, a former banker, born in Moscow in 1966, has been hiding in London under the protection of the UK government. During this self-imposed exile he has used his own media resources such as the websites Crime Russia and Crime Moldova , to promote articles that are anti-Russian and anti-Putin. He has been severely critical of his country of origin, for his own strategic reasons whatever those may be.

But it appears that he has recently undergone a metamorphosis and is about to embark on an entirely new chapter in his adventurous life. According to well informed sources, he has reached an agreement with the security forces of Russia concerning their investigation of the Zakharchenko case and as a result of this he now plans to return home to Moscow under state security guarantees to help with their investigation.

If this is true, he will need to tread carefully. Gorbuntsov is still accused of several money laundering cases in Russia, and if he is to come under the protection of the Russian secret services it will be necessary for these cases and all criminal charges against him to be dismissed in Russia in return for his cooperation with the authorities. He previously played an important role in financial affairs in Russia and Moldova, where he used to own several banks and helped to launder money for many high ranking officials. He therefore has privileged and potentially incriminating evidence against many of his past associates.

The high profile case of Dmitry Zakharchenko in Russia concerns a senior security official who is alleged to have been caught by the police red-handed with a hoard of $123 million in cash at his home, when his apartment was searched.

Zakharchenko was then the deputy head of Moscow’s Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Committee for Economic Security and Combating Corruption.

Gorbuntsov is a key witness for the prosecution in this case, and last October, the lawyers representing him asked the British Home Office to provide him with witness protection. They argued that Gorbuntsov, once an insider within Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, was a potentially valuable source of intelligence for the UK authorities, and that his protection was important in the interests of British national security.

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At that time, the British media was awash with news about the case of Sergiy Skripal and his attempted assassination by Russian agents. The suggestion that Gorbuntsov was at risk and might be targeted for assassination was altogether plausible; he had after all survived a London gangland style machine gun attack in 2012.

Writing in his popular blog, Oleg Lurie, the well known Russian investigative journalist, says that Gorbuntsov claims to have paid Zakharchenko $150,000 per month for protection from the high-ranking police officer. But it is not clear if these claims were only made by Gorbuntsov with the purpose of ingratiating himself with the UK authorities, in order to substantiate his assertions about the corrupt nature of the Russian state.

Today it is not clear where Gorbuntsov stands and from whom he should be seeking protection - from Russian investigators, or from the British secret services. Perhaps he is the only person who can answer that question.

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