Litvinenko suspect’s link to dead Russian exile
AN EXILED Russian whistleblower died in the UK in mysterious circumstances after winning a legal battle against a company linked to the suspected killer of Alexander Litvinenko, an inquest heard yesterday.
Alexander Perepilichnyy, 44, died while jogging near his £3million Surrey mansion. He had sought refuge in Britain after helping Swiss prosecutors with a £150million money-laundering probe involving Russian officials, leading to speculation he may have been murdered in a KGB-style hit.
But Mr Perepilichnyy was also the defendant in a series of Russian lawsuits brought by Dzhirsa LLC, a Moscow-based consultancy linked to exKGB agent Dmitry Kovtun.
A 2016 report found Kovtun and another former KGB agent killed Mr Litvinenko in an attack ‘probably’ authorised by Vladimir Putin, poisoning him with radioactive polonium-210 in 2006.
Yesterday an Old Baily inquest into Mr Perepilichnyy’s death heard Dzhirsa had bought his debts – linked to disputes over loans and bonds worth millions of pounds – and tried to enforce them through the courts.
In a 2012 interview, Kovtun said he had been invited by friends to become a director of Dzhirsa because he enjoyed a ‘certain reputation’.
He was also reported to have said people called them ‘the military men’ as former officers sorted out their disputes, the inquest heard. Giving evidence over videolink, Dmitry Lipkin, a lawyer who represented Mr Perepilichnyy in the Russian lawsuits, said his client had won after proving it was not his signature on documents and he had not received the loan he was pursued for.
Peter Skelton QC, for the coroner, asked: ‘Is Dzhirsa the type of company that, if it doesn’t succeed in court, may resort to a threat of physical violence?’ Mr Lipkin replied: ‘I don’t know.’ Asked if he was aware of the link between Dzhirsa and Kovtun, he said: ‘I don’t remember.’
There had been speculation Mr Perepilichnyy was poisoned with a rare plant slipped into his soup. Botanist Professor Monique Simmonds, of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, told the inquest she had not identified any plant toxins in specimens she tested. The inquest continues.