A longstanding critic of Kremlin corruption has accused NatWest of closing his bank account in the UK because it had been influenced by an intense and pervasive “black PR” campaign mounted against him by Russian actors in their home country. The accusation by Bill Browder appears in a thinktank report that warns the widespread Russian practice of disseminating falsehoods to ruin reputations is seeping into the UK. Browder said the example of his banking status can highlight the reach Russian black PR can have internationally, although NatWest said the decision to shut his personal account in 2015 was “a commercial one” that it had reviewed and stuck to. The campaign in Russia, Browder said, ultimately influenced the British bank. Some of the false accusations made against Browder had also appeared in newspaper articles and court documents in the UK, Foxhall added, in a report entitled “Russian ‘Black PR’: Examining the Practice of Ruining Reputations”.

Source: The Guardian November 23, 2020 06:00 UTC