A well-known businessman who was in exile in the US after criticising Vladimir Putin in Russia was discovered dead in front of his apartment building in a posh area of Washington, DC, authorities said.
Just before 9 p.m. on Sunday, police say 52-year-old Dan Rapoport was found unconscious on the pavement outside the 2400 Main St. apartments in the Georgetown district.
After responding to a complaint about a “jumper,” police claimed they uncovered the horrifying discovery.
Although there has been no indication of the death’s cause, authorities stated that they “do not now suspect foul play.”
First to announce Rapoport’s passing was former Russian Tatler editor Yuniya Pugacheva, who claimed in a post on her Telegram channel that Rapoport committed suicide and that his dog, a mixed-breed puppy named Boy, as well as a suicide note and money, were discovered in a nearby park.
After his wife allegedly left him, Pugacheva said she last saw Rapoport, an investment banker and former co-owner of the well-known Moscow nightclub Soho Rooms, in May at the Connaught pub in London. She claimed he was there “like always, in the company of young women.”
Rapoport’s widow, Alena Rapoport, refuted claims that her husband committed suicide.
Alena emphasised that Rapoport’s death was under investigation by the authorities and that there were no suicide notes, suicide attempts, travel to London, or split.
Rapoport shared a chilling image of Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” with the caption, “The horror, the horror,” two days before he passed away. This would end up being his final Facebook status update.
More than $2,600 in cash, a smashed cellphone, and a fractured headphone were among the personal things that police allegedly found belonged to Rapoport at the scene of the crime, according to the Daily Mail.
The news outlet also said that Rapoport was purportedly embroiled in a dispute with a Russian venture capital firm in the months before his death. Rapoport claimed in a communication to a friend that the Russian firm was attempting to defraud him of $10,000.
When Latvia was still a part of the Soviet Union, Rapoport was born there. His family immigrated to the US in 1980 after receiving political asylum.
Rapoport earned his degree from the University of Houston in 1991, and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he relocated to Russia in order to pursue a career in investment banking.
