Longstanding association: Mikhail Lesin had known Vladimir Putin before the Russian strongman took control of the Kremlin and was nicknamed 'the Bulldozer' for getting the media to dance to Putin's tune
* Millionaire Mikhail Lesin, 57, was found dead in $240-a-night in Washington DC last Friday and police are investigating
* The pro-Putin 'propaganda channel' he set up, RT, claimed he 'had been suffering from a prolonged unidentified illness'
* But DC police have made no such finding and now speculation is mounting in Russia that he was murdered because he had turned FBI informer
* Know as 'the Bulldozer' he was key to media falling into line with Putin but had recently found new love and become father with Siberian model, 29
The death from a 'heart attack' of a longtime close ally of Vladimir Putin in a Washington hotel has led to a swirl of speculation that he was murdered on Moscow's orders after offering to help the FBI.
Mikhail Lesin, 57, was announced last weekend to have been found dead in the US capital. He was a Svengali figure for Putin, who was alleged to have menaced the Russian media into idolizing the strongman president.
The shock death has created an eave of speculation in Moscow that it is related to previous reports that he was helping the FBI - and could be murder.
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Update: Putin’s Pals Are Russian Patriots Until They Get Sick -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast
WNU Editor: In certain circles in Moscow .... this is a big story. No one understands how someone who is reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars was found dead in a regular cheap hotel room .... and in Washington DC to boot. Some are saying that he had become an informer for the U.S. .... and that is why he was murdered. But I am not convinced. He had broke no U.S. laws, he was still tight with Putin's circle, and he had more than enough money to live the rest of his life in luxury and comfort .... so why risk all of that to talk to the FBI. My guess is that he wanted a new life, and he and his wife made the decision to move to the U.S.. But like all things in life .... what we sometimes want, expect, and hope for .... does not happen as planned.