The mysterious death of a Russian businessman in Washington: New York journalists unearthed the details

In Georgetown, an upscale neighborhood in Washington, under mysterious circumstances businessman Dan Rapoport dies. It was he who founded the prestigious and popular Soho Rooms nightclub in Moscow. Rapoport also criticized Vladimir Putin. Therefore, a lot of questions remain in this story, the YouTube channel reports.The Bureau".

The body of Dan Rapoport was found on the evening of August 14th. One of the neighbors called the police, and law enforcement officers arrived a few minutes later at the place of the death of a businessman. Rapoport has been living in the house on M Street in Georgetown for the last time, according to his relatives. Near the center of the city, but at the same time quiet and calm. Many people saw the police at the scene that day, for example, Kelly, a neighbor of Rapoport. She claims that the police at the scene did not particularly linger.

“Everything was covered with yellow tape. We've seen it all. The police worked, I think, for several hours,” says Kelly.

The most obvious version: the businessman could not cope with some problems and committed suicide

Apparently, so far this is the main version of the investigation. The Washington police almost immediately declared that they did not see any suspicions in this crime. The death of Dan Rapoport was not violent - the law enforcement agencies of the capital of America announced this on August 15th.

Journalist Yunia Pugacheva was one of the first to write about Rapoport's death in her telegram channel.

“Dan Rapoport committed suicide in Washington DC. Before committing suicide, he released his dog into the park with money and a suicide note, ”publishes Pugacheva.

The Washington police responded to an official request that the investigation was still ongoing.
This was also confirmed by the businessman's widow, Alena Rapoport. She also claims that her husband did not leave any note. And she does not believe in the version of suicide.

So far, the investigation has not said anything about any evidence. Recordings from surveillance cameras would help restore the events of August 14. It would be possible to find out when the businessman entered the house, who else entered and left the building. But what is interesting is that we did not find a single camera on the facade. Across the road is a hotel. Whether the entrance to the residential complex is visible from there is unknown.

Whether the FBI got involved in the investigation is also not yet clear. In theory, much depends on the results of the forensic medical examination. If a businessman, for example, was attacked before his death, there should be marks on the body. Journalist Karina Orlova claims that there are other facts that cast doubt on the version of suicide.

“He didn't come across as someone who could commit suicide. And interestingly, they found $ 2000 on him, he was wearing a cap. The question is: what kind of person who decides to jump out of the window will do it in a cap,” says Karina Orlova.

Dan Rapoport and his family immigrated to the United States in the early 80s when he was still a child. In the 90s he returned to Russia. In Moscow, he began to trade on the stock exchange, earn good money. At the same time, Rapoport opened the Soho Rooms nightclub with partners - it became one of the most famous in Moscow. In 2012, the businessman decided to leave Russia and move to the United States. Dan Rapoport's father claims that before that, his son was under a lot of pressure.

“They scared him, then we’ll take the business. The anonymous everyones. It was already bad. One of the reasons why they left. He practically left this Soho Rooms - by the way, it still works. At first, he received some amount of money from the operation. And then gradually they said: Vali! Sit and be silent, you won’t get anything, they just squeezed out this business, ”says Rapoport’s father.

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Soho Rooms co-founder and former partner of Rapoport Sergey Tkachenko died in 2017. According to the official version, he also committed suicide. And what's more - he ALSO THROWED OUT OF THE WINDOW.

And the Russian businessman also had business interests with the Trump family. In 2016, he sold his Washington home to Ivanka, the daughter of Donald Trump. They even have a photo together.

Rapoport was, apparently, a multifaceted person

He supported, including financially, Alexei Navalny. For some time he was engaged in finance in Ukraine. It was in Kyiv that he met his wife Alena. This was his second marriage. And Bellingcat claims that it is Rapoport who is behind the well-known Internet hoax. Allegedly, it was he who created the Facebook page of a certain David Jewberg, a senior analyst at the Pentagon. The account appeared in 2015, when Russia had already annexed Crimea, and the Obama administration pursued a policy of appeasement towards Russia. Judberg's page posted tough comments about the Kremlin. They were quoted by many Russian oppositionists, and Jewberg had well-known Americans as friends - for example, former Ambassador McFaul. In fact, there was no Jewberg. It was a fictional character.

In America, Ropoport also tried to build a business. He invested in hotels, in restaurants. Things, however, with Dan Rapoport, have not been going very well lately. The father of the deceased businessman claims that his son had depression.

“I was in touch with him all the time. And he says that there seems to be one contract. But so temporary. But he was very depressed. Because there was practically no permanent income.”

On the one hand, this is a very real version. The businessman had problems, depression, at some point he simply could not stand it. But for many journalists, the mysterious death of Dan Rapoport reminded me of the mysterious death of Mikhail Lesin. He was press minister at the beginning of the XNUMXs. And he did a lot for Vladimir Putin.

Lesin's death is no less suspicious

Lesin died in November 2015. He flew to Washington. I also stayed in the Georgetown area, at the luxurious Four Season Hotel. Lesin drank heavily and for some reason moved from a luxury hotel to a simpler hotel in the Dupont Circle Hotel. Here, in the hotel room, he was found dead.

As in the case of Rapoport, the Washington police for a long time limited themselves to general statements.

It all looked like the former minister drank too much, hit himself and died in an accident. And only under pressure from the American press, after a request from journalists, the Metropolitan Police declassified the case materials. Numerous hematomas were found on Lesin's body, and the hyoid bone was broken. In general, you can get such injuries drunk, but you need to try very hard. And given that Lesin was once close to Putin, and came to Washington to testify to the FBI, the conclusions suggest themselves. Then, in 2015, journalists were still accurate in their assessments. Skripal poisoning and Alexei Navalny will be much later. It is all these facts that journalists from Washington cite as an example when they put forward the version that Dan Rapoport was killed.

“This is very unlike suicide. If it really was a murder and not a suicide, this means that the Russians are murderers. They operate freely in Washington and America, so the stakes here are quite high,” says journalist David Sutter.

It seems that the outcome of this case will depend on the journalists and their perseverance. Of course, the death of a Russian-connected businessman is a delicate topic. In addition, apparently, there are no obvious evidence refuting the version of suicide so far.