(Photo : KRISTON JAE BETHEL/AFP via Getty Images)
A well-known anti-Putin businessman who was exiled in the US was discovered dead outside his apartment building in a rich neighborhood of Washington, DC, authorities said.
According to officials and his family, the recent death of a Latvian-born man who was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and formerly owned a house rented by Ivanka Trump is being investigated.
Alena Rapoport, Dan Rapoport's wife, confirmed his death in Washington, DC, to the Russian media company RBC, but did not provide specifics on the reason for his death.
Putin Critic Dies Mysteriously in Washington DC Apartment
The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) released a death report dated August 14 with Newsweek, stating that the matter is still under active investigation, but no foul play is suspected at this time.
While Rapoport's name may not be well-known, he was associated with or funded several well-known personalities and organizations. Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former President Donald Trump, previously resided with her family in a home originally owned by Rapoport in Washington, DC.
It was reported in January 2017 that Ivanka Trump was going to relocate her family to the home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC, however it was unclear if the former president's daughter rented it directly from Rapoport or through another owner. Ivanka Trump previously rented a Kalorama house in 2021 while declaring the acquisition of a $24 million estate in Florida.
Rapoport, 52, was an investor and businessman who formerly co-owned Moscow's Soho Rooms club, according to RBC. Rapoport co-founded and ran Rapoport Capital, a Washington, D.C.-based professional organization that consults and aids technological start-ups and mid-size VC/PE Funds on fundraising possibilities from worldwide investors, as stated in his LinkedIn profile.
He had backed Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Putin critic. Rapoport's Facebook page has recently contained messages denouncing Russia's current war and expressing support for Ukraine, according to Newsweek. Rapoport, a businessman who operated Moscow's famed Soho Rooms nightclub, resided in DC with his first wife, Irina, from 2012 until 2016.
He had been residing in Kyiv with his second wife, Ukrainian virologist Alena, and their small daughter until this year. When the outbreak occurred in February, he dispatched them to Denmark and returned to the United States, intending to bring them across.
However, in recent months, he'd been observed in London'surrounded by females' in The Connaught Hotel, and he'd been telling foreign acquaintances about being stiffed out of a $10,000 payment by a Russian venture capital business. Former Russian Tatler editor Yuniya Pugacheva revealed last week, citing individuals close to him, that he committed suicide after releasing his dog, Boy, with a suicide note and cash. According to DC Metropolitan Police, an investigation is underway, but no foul play is suspected. They are awaiting the results of the medical examiner.
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Dan Rapoport's Cryptic Post Before He Dies
His widow, Alena, claims he did not commit suicide and that Pugacheva's sources are incorrect. Rapoport uploaded a terrifying photograph of Marilyn Brando as Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now on Facebook three days before his death, captioned "The horror, the horror."
He'd been obsessed with the Ukraine war and Putin's Army, and he'd always been a vocal opponent of the regime. More issues are raised by the list of objects located on or near his corpse after he died. It contains not only the phone, keychain, headphones, and cash, but also a pair of glasses, an unidentified piece of metal, orange flip-flops, a black cap, and a driver's license from the state of Florida.
Rapoport was outspoken in his condemnation of Putin and the situation in Ukraine, where his wife is from, and where he had been residing before the conflict. He evacuated his wife and intended to bring her to the United States, Daily Mail reported. Police seized many personal belongings belonging to Rapoport at the scene of the crime, including more than $2,600 in cash, a shattered cellphone, and a cracked headphone.
Rapoport was born in Latvia during the Soviet Union's occupation of the Baltic state. His family immigrated to the United States in 1980 after being given political asylum. Rapoport graduated from the University of Houston in 1991, and following the fall of the Soviet Union, he relocated to Russia to work as an investment banker, as per New York Post.
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