Dzhigurda's inheritance of 800 million rubles is taken away
Recently, Dzhigurda underwent a radical transformation: he shaved his beard, changed his hair color and seemed to look 20 years younger. And all because he decided, in his words, to “merge with the crowd.”
“I used to stand out with my appearance,” Dzhigurda explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda, “but now I’m tired of being shocking.” I want to live an ordinary life!
However, Dzhigurde’s ordinariness is like the moon. Consider, for example, his statement that he is changing his last name to a new one - Janatan El-Air Bratash Ji Pogorzelsky von Gan Eden. Bratash - in honor of a friend who died in February of this year and left her fortune to the artist. This scandalous story is reminiscent of a detective story: the mysterious death of a rich lonely lady, an 800-million-dollar inheritance that fell on Dzhigurda, and a battle for the right to own wealth. But first things first.
Rich girlfriend
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation, in which she, a native of Belarus, made a dizzying career. In the early 80s, Lyudmila worked in the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But I dreamed of finding a job related to the sky. Her father was a military man and often took his daughter with him to the airfield. When perestroika struck, Bratash came up with and launched her own business - she opened the elite air transportation company Al Air.
“The specificity of our business is that we do not need to buy aircraft. It's expensive and pointless. It is necessary to rent cars from the owners and properly organize the flight system and service in the air. That’s all,” Bratash told Expert magazine in 2003. During the crisis, she baked pancakes herself at night to bring them to the morning flight and serve them with caviar to her VIP clients on board the plane.
But this was at first, and then the business began to bring good dividends, and Lyudmila could only control the established service.
“Luda even personally selected flight attendants for her company—she had the most beautiful models working for her, ready to provide any service to passengers, among whom were oil magnates and oligarchs. They called Lyuda at any time of the day with a request to prepare a plane for them,” Alexey Korostelev, a friend of Lyudmila Bratash, told KP. — Luda had a cheerful disposition, loved sports and travel. She looked good, knew how to make an impression, carry on a conversation, and always, as they say, had her finger on the pulse.
“It was the Bratash company that brought the Russian elite to Courchevel,” says another friend of Lyudmila, restaurateur Victoria Lazich. — Politicians, bankers, and entrepreneurs used the services of her company. This woman made herself - she earned capital with her labor and brains. I bought an apartment in Paris, had luxury housing in Moscow, a dacha, and a personal driver. Only my personal life didn’t work out.
According to friends, the 56-year-old businesswoman has never been married, and her stories about her ex-pilot husband are fiction for the sake of a beautiful legend.
— How long have you known Lyudmila Bratash? — “KP” asked Nikita Dzhigurda himself.
- A hundred years! First, my wife Marina Anisina met Lyusya, then she introduced me. Lucy became our son's godmother. We were friends...
Bratash often left Russia for her apartment in Paris. Anisina also often visits France: she is engaged in coaching, teaching figure skaters. That's where the women met. We met often and went on vacation together. The press wrote that the wedding of Dzhigurda and Anisina was celebrated at Villa Bratash. But not everything was so rosy.
Nikita Dzhigurda: The couple often shocked the public. Either with clips about the birth of Marina Anisina, or with outlandish outfits. Photo: Anton DENISOV/RIA Novosti
The machinations of the green serpent
Friends say: in recent years, Bratash has become addicted to drinking. Perhaps because she lost her business - her company went bankrupt. Lyudmila lived alone and, they say, was unhappy. Of my relatives, only my younger sister Svetlana Romanova lives in Belarus, and rarely visits Moscow.
At the beginning of this year, Svetlana wrote a statement to the Moscow police: her sister, Lyudmila Bratash, has disappeared! After the New Year holidays, the woman could not find Lyudmila - the phones were not answered.
What happened? Bratash gave the following explanation to the police (from the audit material):
“...Dzhigurda N.B. came to visit me in the evening on December 31, 2015. We have known each other for a long time, I am the godmother of his children. We celebrated the New Year on 01/01/16. I began to feel unwell, which may be due to alcohol abuse. Dzhigurda N.B. took me to his home in the Moscow region, the village of Zhukovo, to take care of me. I called a doctor who gave me IVs to get me out of my drunken state. Since my health was not improving, we decided to hospitalize me. On 01/03/16 in the evening, Dzhigurda took me to Dr. Fedorova’s clinic, located in the Moscow region, the village of Znamenskoye. I ask you not to carry out an investigation on the application of my sister Romanova S.D., since I have not disappeared anywhere, no illegal actions have been committed against me.
08.01.2016».
“It is possible that Lyudmila liked Dzhigurda not only as a friend, but also as a man,” says Victoria Lazich. — Lyudmila was amorous, and Dzhigurda, of course, is a charismatic person, is interested in esoteric sciences and can impress women. If Lyudmila was in love with Dzhigurda, then it is quite logical that she wrote a will for him.
Fragment of SMS correspondence between “KP” and Dzhigurda.
Missing Jewels
Lyudmila Bratash’s driver, Dmitry Kuronov, turned out to be more harsh in his statements. The man worked for the businesswoman for more than 20 years. Married, has children. In one of the TV shows, Dmitry voiced his version of the events of Lyudmila’s last New Year’s Eve. According to him, then jewelry worth 600 thousand euros disappeared from Bratash’s apartment. The man assures that on New Year’s Eve Dzhigurda was visiting Lyudmila for a reason.
“I think he just poured it out for her, he was celebrating alone,” said Dmitry. — I was probably “celebrating” around the apartment... I was rummaging around, looking for something. Her safe was opened and completely emptied. I discovered this loss on January 1st. In the evening, somewhere around ten, the security guard (at home - Ed.) calls me and says: “Lucy is being taken away.” I break down and go there, go up to the apartment, I had my own key, I open the apartment, and there is unnatural cleanliness, there are some candles, not Lyudmilina’s. I decided to check the safe; I had a spare key. I opened the safe and it was completely empty. I started calling Marina Anisina, Lyusya, Dzhigurda. No one answered the phone, and then the phones were blocked.”
Surveillance cameras filmed how Dzhigurda’s assistant carried out several bags on January 1 and loaded them into the trunk of a car. Then the artist and his assistant took Lyudmila Bratash out by the arms, put her in the car and drove off.
“I didn’t take anything out of Lucy’s apartment, but her driver and sister may well be involved in the disappearance of the jewelry,” Nikita Dzhigurda told KP. “Lucy noticed things were missing while she was still alive and wrote to the police about it. She was sure that her sister and the driver were stealing from her. The police took no action. My sister and the driver knew that during her lifetime Lyusya had written a will for me and Anisin, and this angered them.
The name of Lyudmila Bratash was well known in the field of Russian VIP air transportation. Photo: Facebook
"I'm being threatened"
On February 15, Lyudmila was found dead in her apartment by driver Dmitry Kuronov. He says that he suspected something was wrong because Bratash did not answer calls. Dmitry arrived and opened the door with his key. Lyudmila was lying dead on the floor, empty bottles were lying nearby. Doctors came to the conclusion that death was due to a detached blood clot. But Dzhigurda is sure: not everything is so simple.
- It was a violent death! — the artist told KP when we called him in the USA. (The conversation took place either by phone or due to communication failures via SMS). “Lucy had numerous bruises on her body; she couldn’t have inflicted them on herself!” This conclusion is in the file (an investigation into the woman’s death is underway. - Ed.).
Nikita believes her sister and driver were involved in the death of her friend. The artist publicly stated that they deliberately drugged Lyudmila with alcohol in order to appropriate her inheritance.
- What do you think I’m doing in America now? - Dzhigurda unexpectedly asked a question.
— Did you fly away because you fear for your life?
- Yes! I receive threats.
— Is your wife with you now?
- No. She is in France, training figure skaters.
Dzhigurda said that he left for the USA not only because of threats. In New York, he intends to receive official confirmation of Bratash’s will, executed here, which will be required for the Moscow court.
Lyudmila Bratash made a will in New York back in June 2010.
The will was not recognized
Lyudmila was left with several apartments, a dacha, securities, as well as monetary assets - the total amount of the inheritance is 800 million rubles. The will itself was executed in the USA back in 2010. There Lyudmila and the Dzhigurda family rested together. According to the showman, even then the woman was afraid of the driver and sister, and therefore took care of the inheritance in advance.
True, an unexpected obstacle arose on Dzhigurda’s path to the treasured millions. The Russian notary rejected the American will presented by the artist because it “does not meet the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation in form and content.”
Dzhigurda is going to challenge this decision in court. In addition, he filed a lawsuit against Svetlana Romanova in the Kuntsevo Court of Moscow, believing that she has no right to claim her sister’s inheritance. In response, Romanova filed her own claim to have the will declared invalid.
“This whole story with the death of Lyudmila Bratash looks ugly,” says Victoria Lazich. - Alas, when single rich women die, a bad fuss inevitably arises around the inheritance. This was the case with the inheritance of Zykina, and Juna, and many others. In my opinion, so far none of the disputing parties looks convincing and flawless.
DIRECT SPEECH
Lyudmila Bratash's driver Dmitry KURONOV:
Men only wanted money from her
- Dmitry, we saw Bratash’s statement that you allegedly gave her pills that made her feel sick...
- Lord, what do you believe in?! These are all Dzhigurda’s fantasies. He dictated to her. Lyusya was in an inadequate state when she wrote. And the date has been corrected there. This drunken nonsense should not be taken seriously. I didn't give her any pills.
- If these are Dzhigurda’s fantasies, why did he need it?
- To compromise me. On the basis of this note, I was then not allowed into “Ostrov” (the territory of the complex on Ostrovny Proezd, where Lyudmila lived. - Ed.). Dzhigurda jumped with this note and demanded that I not be allowed into the territory. And I was removed from the list. I then actually lost my job. Then Lucy turned on her brain and realized what had happened. She told me: “Go back to work.” And again I began to work for her.
- But her company has collapsed!
- Well, I worked for her as a personal driver, and as a personal bodyguard, and whatever else.
- Why did you have the keys to her safe?
— I didn’t have the key to the safe. I knew where the spare one was in her apartment.
- But did you have the key to the apartment itself?
— I always had, for about 15 years, keys to all her apartments. She trusted me completely.
— If you were her driver until recently, why does Lyudmila write about you “former driver”?
— I repeat: in a drunken, inadequate state, she could write anything under Dzhigurda’s pressure. Let's start with the fact that Lyudmila was a journalist in her youth. She treated the letter very carefully. And for Lucy to write something as stupid as in these notes! Firstly, she always wrote my first name and patronymic. She would not have written “Dmitry Kuronov”. She treated all people with respect. And I always wrote my first and patronymic names in documents.
“Were you around her because you were doing your job, and not because you felt sorry for her?”
- And I regretted it too. How many times have we offered her treatment? Her friends also invited her to Germany for treatment. Everyone knew, God, that she was drinking, but no one lifted a finger. They'll talk and that's it. What could I do alone? You start to tell her something, she: “Okay, that’s it, I’m free.” I’m at the door and she immediately calls: everything is brought to her instantly. The next day I come to work - Lucy is no good. There is no cure for female alcoholism.
How long ago did this start for her?
“I think about ten years ago she already began to apply herself so seriously.” From loneliness. She had many suitors over the years that I worked for her, more than 20 years. But most often they needed her money, her fortune. Out of love, she had a Frenchman alone for a very long time, she lived with him.
- And then they broke up?
- The Frenchman is also tired of her feasts.
— Did you have a purely business relationship with her?
- Not only business ones. Most likely family ones too. She loved my children. My wife constantly went to see her. She bought us a dog after we put ours to sleep. And my children were like family to her. She treated my children and my wife very warmly. Moreover, she loved her dogs very much. When my wife came to see her and the dogs licked her, for Lucy it was a sign: she was a kind person. When Lucy flew away somewhere, she left her dogs with us.
- They say you had an affair with her.
- No, I didn’t allow myself that.
— In one of the notes Lyudmila writes “cleaning lady in Paris.” What does it mean?
- What kind of word is this “cleaner”, Lord! This word is not from her vocabulary! She had an assistant in Paris - Marina. Lyudmila trusted her for many years. Lucy treated her well. She never said a bad word about her.
- How do you feel about Dzhigurda?
- I never loved him. Lyudmila hated him too. Her fate turned out this way - she loved his children and Marinka Anisina.
Lyudmila Bratash's notes reveal her dysfunctional state.
VERBATIM
From the statement of Lyudmila Bratash to the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Krylatskoye district of Moscow dated February 12 of this year (Lyudmila passed away on February 15):
“I, Brother Lyudmila Jonathanovna, inform you that my former driver Dmitry Kuronov, born in 1965, periodically gave me pills that made me feel ill. I ask you to protect me from Dmitry Kuronov, as he poses a danger to my life.”
The person who wrote these notes was on the verge of suicide, says a handwriting graphologist.
COMPETENTLY
“Wrote by an unhealthy person”
We showed Lyudmila Bratash's notes to graphologist and handwriting expert Sergei Sergeev , asking him in what condition the person who wrote them was.
“I see suicidal signs in the manner of writing,” the expert told KP. “The person who wrote this didn’t commit suicide, did he?” But he seemed to be on the verge. The notes show that their author is losing control of himself, is in an unfavorable state and is under great stress. Judging by the handwriting, the person’s life adaptation is reduced: there are very large distances between the lines. It is as if the person is in the stratosphere, and not in reality. The direction of the lines - they either fall or rise - indicates hysteria and mania. I won’t say that this is already a mental disorder, but rather one of the symptoms. But I won’t dare to say that he was inadequate; such a diagnosis is made by a psychiatrist.
