Oligarch was ‘broken man’ after lost court battle, inquest hears

A SUPER-RICH tycoon was plunged into a spiral of despair after a multi-billion pound trial defeat at the hands of football club owner Roman Abramovich, an inquest heard.
Russian oligarch Boris BerezovskyRussian oligarch Boris Berezovsky
Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky became a “broken man” and spoke of killing himself in the wake of the bitterly-contested court battle with Chelsea FC supremo Mr Abramovich in 2012.

Mr Berezovsky’s lifeless body was discovered slumped on the floor at his ex-wife’s luxury property in Ascot, Berkshire, on March 23 last year. Det Insp Mark Bissell, of Thames Valley Police, said the death had been initially treated as “unexplained”.

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Asked by coroner Peter Bedford if officers had reason to suspect foul play due to Mr Berezovsky’s position as an outspoken Russian exile, Mr Bissell told the inquest that they took into account that he was a “high profile individual” and a “formidable and powerful businessman” with “membership within the higher echelons of the political spectrum in Russia”.

He said “proportionate” inquiries had been carried out into claims that the oligarch was assassinated and his death faked but nothing untoward was found and suicide was concluded.

Giving evidence, paramedic John Pocock confirmed he received a phone call to say that police were warning of “hazardous materials” being present in the property.

He also said that a “warning tone” had gone off on an alarm he carried to detect levels of background radiation but added: “It may have just been a faulty meter.

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“It could have been that it was an accumulation of background radiation that may have set the alarm off.”

Friends told the hearing in Windsor Guildhall that the impact of the Abramovich trial weighed heavy on Mr Berezovsky, with the oligarch feeling as though his finances and reputation had been shot to pieces.

Bodyguard Avi Navama said his employer – a former Kremlin insider – was “very low” and “depressed” in the final four months of his life.

Speaking of the last time he saw him, Mr Navama said: “He looked at me with very low, tired eyes – like he doesn’t know what to do.”

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Mr Berezovsky’s legal adviser, Michael Cotlick, told the inquest how the tycoon fled Russia after falling out with the Kremlin.

He was granted political asylum in the UK in September 2003.

Mr Cotlick confirmed that his boss had survived a number of assassination attempts and was an associate of KGB spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who died from radioactive polonium-210 poisoning in November 2006.

He also said Mr Berezovsky had been hit hard by the filing of a potentially-ruinous financial claim against him by partner Elena Gorbunova. Mr Cotlick added that his friend changed his will nine days before his death, but also made several plans for meetings and appointments after March 23.

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Psychiatrist Dr Saeed Islam said Mr Berezovsky “perceived relentless pressure on him in terms of litigation and fear of losing those cases”.

He said he also spoke of “enemies in Russia who were trying to destroy him and make him homeless”.

Dr Islam said that Mr Berezovsky described feeling very low and told him: “I can’t see a way out.”

The inquest continues.

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