William Browder has claimed that a Russian criminal tax probe into a business linked to his investment firm is an attempt to discredit him.

Browder, who has been barred from entering Russia for 18 months, said the probe into a business with which his firm has had an advisory relationship was nothing to do with tax but an attempt to discredit him, reported the FT .

Browder has been denied entry into Russia for the interest of security of the state, which is suspected to have followed his calls for better Russian corporate governance.

A Russian official told the newspaper that officials were looking into whether Browder was behind a tax scheme where tax was allegedly underpaid.

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