Dan Rapoport: Who is the Putin critic found dead in Washington DC?

Bevan Hurley
·4 min read
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An investment banker and one-time nightclub impresario who left Russia after falling out with Vladimir Putin has died of a suspected suicide in Washington DC.

Latvian-American Dan Rapoport, 52, was found in front of an apartment building in Georgetown district just before 6pm on Sunday by Metropolitan Police Department by officers responding to reports of a jumper.

Mr Rapoport was given first aid at the scene by ambulance staff and taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead, the (MPD) told The Independent in a statement.

MPD spokeswoman Brianna Burch said Mr Rapoport’s death remained under active investigation.

“We do not suspect foul play at this time,” she said.

Mr Rapoport’s widow Alena had earlier denied claims that her husband’s death was a suicide.

A police report provided to The Independent showed Mr Rapoport had a cracked cellphone, eye glasses, a Florida driver’s license and $2,620 in cash on him when he died.

Who is Dan Rapoport?

Mr Rapoport was born in Latvia when it was still part of the Soviet Union and in 1980 his family were granted political asylum in the United States.

He graduated from the University of Houston in 1991 before moving to Russia to work in the finance and gas industries.

At the time, Russia’s publicly owned companies were being sold off after the fall of the Soviet Union, and Mr Rapoport reportedly represented several Russian firms in overseas deals.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked for financial firm CentreInvest Group for 12 years in Moscow and New York.

During his time in Moscow, Mr Rapoport co-owned one of the Russian capital’s most exclusive night clubs, The Soho Rooms.

Dan Rapoport and wife Alena, who has denied reports that he died by suicide (Facebook)
Dan Rapoport and wife Alena, who has denied reports that he died by suicide (Facebook)
Putin critic Dan Rapoport has died in Washington DC (Facebook)
Putin critic Dan Rapoport has died in Washington DC (Facebook)

An aide to Alexei Navalny told the New York Times in 2017 that Mr Rapoport was a supporter of the leading Russian opposition leader since 2010.

Mr Rapoport left Russia in 2012 reportedly over his efforts to help Mr Navalny gain power.

Moving back to Washington DC, he purchased a property in the Kalorama district of Washington DC that is popular with diplomats and political insiders.

He later sold the renovated property for $5.5m to Jared and Ivanka Trump when they moved to the US capital to take up senior adviser positions in Donald Trump’s administration in January 2017.

Mr Rapoport moved to Kyiv, Ukraine after selling the property, where he set up an investment firm and met his current wife Alena. They have a child together.

On LinkedIn, Mr Rapoport touted his investing experience, saying he had been “directly involved in over $8 billion of private and public funding transactions, including start-ups, funds, exchange listings, private placements, buybacks and other finance actions”.

He spoke English and Russian fluently, and was able to converse in French and Ukrainian, according to the profile.

Mr Rapoport was a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s efforts in the war against Russia and had been living there when fighting erupted in February.

“Dan evacuated us from Kyiv and returned there himself to help my country,” his wife Alena Rapoport reportedly told RBC.

Conflicting reports over his death

News of Mr Rapoport’s death was revealed in a post to Telegram by the former editor of Russian Tatler magazine.

Yuniya Pugacheva claimed that Mr Rapoport’s dog was found in park near his Washington DC home with a suicide note and money.

His wife Alena Rapoport denied claims that he killed himself.

She told Russian language news service RBC that an investigation was underway into his death, and there were “no notes, no suicide”.

“To our great regret, the husband and father of our daughter is no longer with us,” she was quoted as telling RBC.

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department says the death remains under investigation, but there were no signs of anyone else being involved.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department found items including a key ring with a lanyard and $2620 in cash on Dan Rapoport when he died (Metropolitan Police Department)
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department found items including a key ring with a lanyard and $2620 in cash on Dan Rapoport when he died (Metropolitan Police Department)

A police report provided to The Independent showed Mr Rapoport had a cracked cellphone, eye glasses, a Florida driver’s license and $2620 in cash on him when he died.

Bill Browder, a prominent Putin critic and friend, said it was “very upsetting news”.

“He was one of the first Moscow based financiers I knew who publicly supported Alexei Navalny. RIP Dan,” Mr Browder wrote.