Critic of Putin Who Sold DC Mansion to Jared & Ivanka Found Mysteriously Dead
Edited by: TJVNews.com
It appears that the long arm of influence that Russian President Vladimir Putin wields might be at play in a mysterious death.
The Post reported that a well-known businessman living in exile in the US after criticizing Putin was found dead outside his apartment building in an upscale neighborhood of Washington, DC, according to local law enforcement.
Police said that on Sunday night, before 9 pm, the body of Dan Rapoport, 52, was found on the sidewalk in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, outside of the 2400 Main Street apartments in which he was a resident, according to the Post report.
Rapoport’s lifeless body was discovered when police responded to a call about a “jumper” as was reported by the Post.
Police said, “at this time, we do not suspect foul play” and the cause of death has not been released to the public.
First reporting Rapoport’s demise was a former editor of Russian Teller named Yuniya Pugacheva, The Post reported that she “claimed in a post on her Telegram channel that Rapoport died by suicide, and that his dog — a mixed-breed pup named Boy — was located in a nearby park, along with a suicide note and cash.”
Rapoport was an investment banker and former co-owner of the popular Moscow nightclub Soho Rooms, as was reported by the Post. Pugacheva claimed that she last saw Rapoport in London back in May of this year at the Connaught bar, where she said he was, “as always, in the company of young women,” after his wife had purportedly left him, as was reported by the Post.
Alena Rapoport, Rapoport’s widow denied that her husband’s life was ended by his own hand, according to the report.
Speaking to the Russian news outlet RBC, Alena said of her husband’s death, “There were no suicide notes, no suicide, no trip to London, no breakup. She added that Rapoport’s death was being investigated by the authorities, as was reported by the Post.
The Post reported that two days before his body was discovered by authorities in the nation’s capital, Rapoport posted an update on his Facebook page. It was a haunting photo of the late actor Marlon Brando in the character of Colonel Kurtz in the iconic movie “Apocalypse Now.” It was accompanied by the quote: “The horror, the horror.”
The Daily Mail of the UK reported that at the scene of Rapoport’s death, local police recovered several personal items purportedly belonging to Rapoport, including more than $2,600 in cash, a broken cellphone and a cracked headphone.
The news site also reported that in the months leading up to his death, Rapoport was allegedly locked in a feud with a Russian venture capital firm, which was trying to cheat him out of $10,000, he claimed in a message to a friend, as was reported by the Post.
Rapoport was born in Latvia when the Baltic state was still part of the Soviet Union. In 1980, his family emigrated to the US after being granted political asylum.
In 1991, Rapoport graduated from the University of Houston, and after the fall of the Soviet Union, he moved to Russia to pursue a career as an investment banker.
The Post also reported that in 2012 Rapoport left Russia over his support of dissident Alexei Navalny — who is currently serving a lengthy sentence at a notorious maximum-security prison — and returned to the US with his first wife, a fashion model named Irina.
The Rapoports settled in a stately, multimillion-dollar home in the high-end Kalorma section of Washington, DC. The Post reported that in 2016, Rapoport sold the property to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who had decamped to the capital to join Donald Trump’s administration.
The Post reported that after the war with Russia broke out in February, Alena Rapoport told RBC that her husband evacuated her and their daughter from Kyiv, but then went back “to help my country,” she said.
“Later we were supposed to meet in the US,” the widow said.
