UNITED KINGDOM/FILE: An inquest begins into the death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who died in the locked bathroom of his mansion near London, with his bodyguard saying he was a "broken man" near the end of his life

Record ID: 858240

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM/FILE: An inquest begins into the death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who died in the locked bathroom of his mansion near London, with his bodyguard saying he was a "broken man" near the end of his life
  • Date: 26th March 2014
  • Summary: ASCOT, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MARCH 24, 2013) (REUTERS) POLICE CARS PARKED OUTSIDE HOUSE OF FORMER RUSSIAN OLIGARCH, BORIS BEREZOVSKY, SEEN BEHIND NEARBY FENCE ROOF OF HOUSE OF BEREZOVSKY / POLICE OUTSIDE HOUSE SEEN THROUGH TREES VARIOUS OF POLICE OUTSIDE HOUSE ROAD LEADING TO THE HOUSE WHERE BEREZOVSKY WAS FOUND DEAD LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE - AUGUST 31, 2012) (REUTERS) THE ROLLS BUILDING, ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE BORIS BEREZOVSKY ARRIVING AT COURT BEREZOVSKY WALKING OUT OF COURT AND TOWARDS MICROPHONES AND SPEAKING TO MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine, Russian Federation, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: Russian Federation Ukraine United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACD9X6DKF0INO40ZRLAGXYPLT0
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was a "broken man" after losing a multi-billion dollar court case to fellow Russian Roman Abramovich and regularly talked about killing himself in the months before his death, an inquest heard on Wednesday (March 26).
    Berezovsky's bodyguard Avi Navama said his employer had asked him about the best ways to commit suicide and told him he was "the poorest man in the world" after losing a 6 billion USD damages claim to the Chelsea football club owner in 2012.
    Berezovsky, who became a Moscow powerbroker under the late President Boris Yeltsin only to fall foul of Vladimir Putin, was found dead a year ago in the bathroom of his former wife's home near Windsor, west of London, with a scarf around his neck.
    Navama told the inquest at Windsor Guildhall that the court case against Abramovich triggered a change in the personality of the 67-year-old Berezovsky, who suffered from depression for six months before his death and often talked about taking his own life.
    A fast-talking former mathematician, Berezovsky scaled the heights of a ruthless post-Soviet business and political world, surviving years of power struggles and assassination attempts before fleeing to London in 2000 after a row with Putin.
    Britain gave him political asylum in 2003 on the grounds that his life would be in danger if he went back, straining ties between London and Moscow which cast Berezovsky as a criminal who should stand trial for massive fraud and tax evasion.
    Once in exile, Berezovsky often said he feared for his life, particularly after the fatal poisoning of his friend and former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.
    He suffered a blow in 2011 when he was forced to pay one of Britain's biggest divorce settlements to former wife Galina and then lost a legal battle with former partner Abramovich over shares in Russia's fourth biggest oil company.
    Navama told that inquest that Berezovsky did not have any concerns about his safety and his previous high-tech and detailed security arrangements had been sharply scaled down since the court case.
    For many, Berezovsky personified the decade of wild capitalism, chaos and violence that followed the Soviet fall. He left a trail of enemies in Russia and beyond, and no doubt once featured on many a hit list.
    Berezovsky survived an assassination attempt in 1994 when a bomb exploded in his car, decapitating his driver.
    In his final months he led a much less extravagant life, apparently bitter and broken and rarely seen in public.
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