Judge Rules Russia Owes $234 Million

A family of Russian descent seeking return of property seized after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution won a $234-million judgment against Russia. U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston awarded the damages after Russia failed to defend itself. Lee Magness’ claim was based on his family’s vast holdings in St. Petersburg, Russia, including a piano factory, a shopping center and a mansion. All were absorbed by the communists after the 1917 revolution. After the fall of communism, the Russian government prohibited the nationalization or expropriation of foreign investments, prompting the plaintiffs to travel to St. Petersburg in 1994 to reclaim the family fortune once owned by Magness’ maternal grandfather, Ivan Karlovitch Schroder. “For whatever reason, the Russian Federation and Ministry of Culture claimed the property was not” the Magness’, said family attorney Daniel B. Nelson. “The expropriation we’re really suing over occurred in 1994.”