Western media reports he was likely murdered for being an FBI informant.
There are even separate allegations that Lesin may still be alive, with his demise faked by the US authorities.
Mikhail Lesin, 57, was announced last weekend to have been found dead in the US capital. Lesin was found dead at 11:30 am on November 6 while staying on an upper floor at the $240-a-night Dupont Circle Hotel, seen as modest for his multimillionaire lifestyle.
The death from a 'heart attack' has led to a swirl of speculation that he was murdered on Moscow's orders after offering to help the FBI. There are even separate allegations that Lesin may still be alive, with his demise faked by the US authorities. According to this version, he is being kept safe as part of a witness protection scheme, while spilling to the FBI all he knows on Putin's Russia.
In the U.S., Lesin's wealth was under scrutiny. In July 2014, a few months after U.S.-Russia relations were marred by Moscow's annexation of Crimea from...