Oligarch Boris Berezovsky found dead

Boris Berezovsky found dead in his bathtub

It has just been confirmed that 67-year old oligarch Boris Berezovsky was found dead in a bath at his Surrey home at around 11am this morning. His son-in-law, Yegor Shuppe, revealed the news earlier today on Facebook and later a statement came from Alexander Dobrovinsky of Moscow based The Alexander Dobrovinsky & Partners law firm stating:

“Just got a call from London. Boris Berezovsky committed suicide. He was a difficult man. A move of disparity? Impossible to live poor? A strike of blows? I am afraid no one will get to know now”.

Berezovsky, who I encountered several times at The Lanesborough Hotel, lost a £3 billion damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich in 2012. It was the largest private court action ever to have been heard in Britain and during the case he was described as “an inherently unreliable witness”.

In a separate case in January 2013, Mr Berezovsky former lover and mother of two of his six children, Elena Gorbunova, won a £200 million freezing order on his assets.

Aside from this, the political exile and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was subjected to a number of assassination attempts. A 1994 car bomb decapitated Berezovsky’s chauffeur and after a hitman had been sent to kill him in 2007, he alleged that security sources had told him:

“Someone you know will come to Britain, he will try to connect to you and when you meet him, he will just kill you and will not try to hide”.

Whether Mr Berezovsky died of natural causes, committed suicide or was killed unlawfully remains to be revealed. Whatever transpires, this turn of events marks a most tragic end for this most colourful of oligarchs.