MYSTERY surrounds the death of a nightclub tycoon and critic of Vladimir Putin who died in the United States.
Dan Rapoport, 52, reportedly left a suicide note and money attached to his dog which he released into a park in Washington D.C.
The financier was once the co-owner of cult Moscow nightclub Soho Rooms and a well-known figure during Russia’s turbulent 1990s.
He also had been involved in highlighting the alleged corruption of Vladimir Putin and had ties to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Rapoport had moved to Ukraine then married a virologist from Kyiv, who gave birth to a girl, and was seen as strongly pro-Ukrainian.
An initial report by Los Angeles-based Russian showbiz journalist Yunia Pugacheva claimed he had committed suicide after releasing his dog into a park with money and a suicide note.
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But respected Russian news outlet RBC quoted his widow Alena Rapoport as saying he had died but denying suicide.
“To our great regret, the husband and father of our daughter is no longer with us,” she was quoted as saying.
She did not specify the cause or place of death but said an investigation was underway, though that has not been confirmed.
“We were due to meet, he had appointments and plans,” she said, denying suicide.
“Dan evacuated us from Kyiv and returned there to help my country. Next we were supposed to meet in the USA.”
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She also disputed an earlier account from the Russian journalist saying the couple had split and Rappaport had been in London “in the company of young girls”.
“There were no notes, no suicide, no trip to London, no split,” Alena said.
Russian showbiz Telegram channel Tatler’s Heroine also disputed suicide as a likely cause of death.
Rapoport was reported to have left Russia due to his support for Navalny, Putin’s leading critic who is now serving a long term jail sentence and is described in the West as a political prisoner.
He had sold his Washington D.C home and gone to live in Ukraine in 2016 in a bid to repeat his financial success in Moscow soon after the collapse of communism.
The house which then became the home of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Independent investigative reporting website Bellingcat revealed Rapoport was behind a fictitious Pentagon lieutenant colonel called David Jewberg, who was actively promoted by the Russian opposition.
Jewberg appeared to be a staunch and knowledgeable critic of the Putin regime, and its use of online trolls, and the silencing of critics.
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His picture turned out to be a university friend of Latvian-born Rapoport, named Steve Ferro.
It appeared that Jewberg’s criticisms of Putin were in fact Rapoport’s.
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