FACTBOX-Another strange death with links to Magnitsky case

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Alexander Perepilichny, 44, who had been helping the Swiss investigate a Russian money-laundering scheme linked to the 2009 death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, was found dead on Wednesday in as yet unexplained circumstances.

Here are the central facts of the Magnitsky case, which has caused an international outcry and prompted the United States to push for a bill cracking down on Russian corruption:

* Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for the equity fund Hermitage Capital, accused a group including government officials of stealing around $230 million from the Russian state in 2007 through fraudulent tax refunds. Rather than congratulating Magnitsky for his assistance, the authorities accused him of orchestrating the fraud himself and arrested him in November 2008.

* He was held in a pre-trial detention centre but a year later on Nov. 16, 2009, he was dead. Former colleagues said the tax evasion and fraud charges had been fabricated by police investigators.

* A report issued in July 2011 by the Kremlin's human rights council said a prison doctor who complained that Magnitsky was acting irrationally, summoned a team of eight guards, who handcuffed and took him to a small room, where a first-aid unit was denied access. The report said he had broken fingers and bruises on his body.

* An investigation said Magnitsky failed to receive proper medical treatment while in pre-trail detention and died as a result of complications from untreated pancreatitis and a heart condition. He died eight days before he would have had to be released or brought to trial.

* The European Parliament has endorsed sanctions against around 60 Russian officials over his death. U.S. lawmakers have drafted legislation named after Magnitsky that would impose sanctions on Russian officials involved in human rights violations.

Sources: Reuters/www.euronews.com

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Will Waterman)