Author Topic: Berezovsky Spoke of Suicide, Inquest Told  (Read 319 times)

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Berezovsky Spoke of Suicide, Inquest Told
« on: March 26, 2014, 05:32:45 pm »
Berezovsky Spoke of Suicide, Inquest Told


By Alexis Flynn
Updated March 26, 2014 11:48 a.m. ET

WINDSOR, England—Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky often spoke of killing himself in the months before he died, his former bodyguard told a British coroner on Wednesday.

Speaking at a two-day inquest into how the one-time Kremlin power broker turned critic of President Vladimir Putin died a little over a year ago, Avi Navama said Mr. Berezovsky was left "a broken man" after losing a court battle with fellow oligarch and former protégé Roman Abramovich.

Mr. Navama told the hearing how he discovered Mr. Berezovsky lying lifeless on the bathroom floor of a house set in the grounds of his ex-wife's country estate.

Authorities said at the time that Mr. Berezovsky had suffered injuries consistent with hanging.

"For the last 10 months, he was low, very depressed," said Mr. Navama. Mounting financial woes transformed his employer into a recluse who frequently quizzed him about the best ways to commit suicide, he said.

The catalyst for Mr. Berezovsky's sudden decline was the dismissal of his $6 billion damages claim against Mr. Abramovich by a British court in late 2012, Mr. Navama told coroner Peter Bedford.

That decision left Mr. Berezovsky with a huge legal bill and a damaged reputation, forcing the 67-year-old into selling assets as he tried to service millions in legal fees.

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