![Book excerpt: "Freezing Order," on Putin, money laundering and murder](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/04/09/33c3017c-a180-4ecb-9ce1-a08e98aea619/thumbnail/1200x630/362d168fedd15bb6aedaf9160b2f442a/freezing-order-simon-and-schuster-cover-660.jpg)
Book excerpt: "Freezing Order," on Putin, money laundering and murder
CBSN
As a financier working in Russia beginning in the 1990s, American-born Bill Browder soon learned that theft was rampant among oligarchs profiting from the privatization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. While investigating a $230 million tax fraud perpetrated against his company, Browder's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was imprisoned, tortured and killed by Russian authorities.
In response, Browder advocated for passage of the Magnitsky Act, aimed at freezing the assets of those involved in human rights violations. The Magnitsky Act has expanded beyond the United States to other nations around the globe – and has made Browder a target of the Kremlin.
Browder has followed his New York Times bestseller "Red Notice" with a new book, "Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath" (both published by Simon & Schuster, a division of Paramount).
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Sydney, Australia — A shark bit and killed a 17-year-old girl swimming off an eastern Australian island on Monday, officials said, in the country's third reported fatal attack in just over five weeks. Paramedics rushed to Woorim Beach in Queensland to treat the teenager, who had sustained serious injuries to her upper body, an ambulance service spokesperson said.
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Tel Aviv — American-Israeli dual national Keith Siegel was among three hostages released by militants in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Saturday, more than 15 months after they were taken captive by Hamas. Siegel was freed in Gaza City about two hours after Israelis Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon were released in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military confirmed Siegel's transfer from militants to Red Cross personnel.
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Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday with a Trump administration official tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.