Speaker 1: Something strange is going on.
Speaker 2: Who is killing Russian billionaires? Another Russian oligarch has been
Speaker 2: found dead. Reports suggests that he hanged himself, fell out
Speaker 2: of a window.
Speaker 1: Slashed his wrists, was poisoned, murdered his whole family. Last year,
Speaker 1: more than a dozen Russian oligarchs died in the space
Speaker 1: of nine months. Many of the debts are suspicious with
Speaker 1: links to the Kremlin. This is sad Oligach, an investigation
Speaker 1: into these recently dead Russian billionaires. It's created by me
Speaker 1: Jake Hanrahan and my colleague Sergey Slipchenkov. Sad Oligach is
Speaker 1: a h eleven production for Kulso Media and iHeartRadio. This
Speaker 1: is the final part of the curious case of Dan Rappoport.
Speaker 1: He was pretending to be a Pentagon analyst, which worked
Speaker 1: for the circles he was trying to infle. But on
Speaker 1: the flip side, it allowed Russia to quote a Pentagon
Speaker 1: analyst that was borderline threatening them with this rhetoric. The
Speaker 1: Russian Ministry of Defense media outlet TV Zavezda published an
Speaker 1: article titled Pentagon plans to obliterate Russian Federation in twenty
Speaker 1: days and let NATO govern it. To be fair, they
Speaker 1: did say that it was unknown whether dubog was legit
Speaker 1: or not, but the damage was done. With the headline
Speaker 1: another article in Russia's state news service Aria Navosti asked
Speaker 1: the question is the US preparing a new Operation Barbarossa
Speaker 1: against Russia? Operation Barbarossa being the invasion of the Soviet
Speaker 1: Union by Nazi Germany. The article was viewed half a
Speaker 1: million times. Duberg's message was spreading across Russia already, though
Speaker 1: pro Kremlin journalists were saying that Duwberg was a fake,
Speaker 1: there is no doubt that Putin himself would have been
Speaker 1: made aware of David Duberg at this time, and therefore
Speaker 1: I think Dan Rappaport an old fox emerges. At this point,
Speaker 1: various bloggers and rioters across the world began to attack
Speaker 1: drew Berg, correctly calling out his fraud. In turn, Drew
Speaker 1: Burg slash Rappaport did various corny things to try and
Speaker 1: prove his legitimacy. This included posting a photo of his
Speaker 1: laptop with the Dwberg Facebook page open on the screen,
Speaker 1: with a block four five pistol with two loaded magazines
Speaker 1: sat there on the keyboard in front of him. Duburg
Speaker 1: also apparently emailed the blogger saying quote, you better be
Speaker 1: looking over your shoulder. I will find you now. After
Speaker 1: all of this, how do we know David Duberg was
Speaker 1: actually done? Rappaport, Well, journalist Alexi Cuzamenko is extremely good
Speaker 1: at what he does. He laid it all out perfectly
Speaker 1: in his article for Bellingcat with all the receipts to boot.
Speaker 1: Dan Rappaport, on his real profile as himself was posting
Speaker 1: photos of David Duberg. Remember, the image of dw Berg
Speaker 1: was just his Texan mate Steve Ferrow, but publicly Rappaport
Speaker 1: claimed it was dw Burg and said that they knew
Speaker 1: each other, not him and feroh, him and du Burg.
Speaker 1: He was shaking his own hand. Dan Rapperport, whilst in
Speaker 1: one of his many Facebook arguments about Russia's technical capabilities,
Speaker 1: threaten someone saying that David Duberg would write a letter
Speaker 1: from the Pentagon to his employer real bully boy shit,
Speaker 1: Rapperport wrote, quote, David Duberg will write a letter from
Speaker 1: Pentagon to textra on Monday, America police. Is the world
Speaker 1: better worse than trying or Russia? Ends quote Rappaport did
Speaker 1: this a lot. To be honest, he seemed like a
Speaker 1: bit of a maniac. At times. He text an email
Speaker 1: people he didn't agree with, essentially threatening to set Drew
Speaker 1: Berg on them. I am David's all lack of self discipline. Eventually,
Speaker 1: Rappaport would even place himself as a conduit to Duberg.
Speaker 1: A former Russian politician and putin opposition figure named Ilya
Speaker 1: Ponomarev said that Rappaport was open about having a work
Speaker 1: in relationship with David Duberg and that he put him
Speaker 1: in touch with him. Ponomarev also openly endorsed du Burg,
Speaker 1: which boosted his profile massively in the Russian dissident scene.
Speaker 1: Regularly friends of Rappaport were friends of Duburg. One Russian
Speaker 1: expert even confirmed that Duburg was Rappaport Schuzumenko writes quote.
Speaker 1: In June twenty seventeen, Dubog posted a link to a
Speaker 1: Voice of America Russian Service interview with well known American
Speaker 1: Russian expert David Satter, adding a comment that Sata was
Speaker 1: his personal friend. Sata was also listed as Dan Rappaport's
Speaker 1: friend on Facebook almost a year prior In September twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: du Berg made a Facebook post about a presentation of
Speaker 1: SA book at a Washington bookstore, also calling Sata a
Speaker 1: personal friend. David Satter himself liked the post on Facebook.
Speaker 1: When Satur was asked via email if Rappaport was in
Speaker 1: fact David Duberg, Sata confirmed, I am aware that David
Speaker 1: Duberg is a non de plume for Dan Rapperport. Dan
Speaker 1: is a friend of mine and I have no objections
Speaker 1: to him reprinting the article with the va Ends quote.
Speaker 1: But it seems Dan Rappaport didn't act alone.
Speaker 2: I didn't create some loser alter. You've got to make
Speaker 2: myself feel better.
Speaker 1: The first rule of David Dubog club is that you
Speaker 1: don't talk about David Duwburgh club. Problem is they all did.
Speaker 1: A pattern clearly emerges when looking at the various social
Speaker 1: media interactions between Drew Berg, Rapperport, and the many people
Speaker 1: who boosted the jew Burg fraud. These people would also
Speaker 1: post on Duwberg's Facebook timeline or to related Facebook groups,
Speaker 1: explaining his temporary absences, such as when he was temporarily
Speaker 1: banned from the social network, and tracing these individuals. They
Speaker 1: all had someone in common. Dan Rappaport, one of these
Speaker 1: people in David Duwberg Club is very curious. Active duty
Speaker 1: US Navy Lieutenant Commander Ben Anderson. Anderson said he was
Speaker 1: a personal friend of Dan Rappaport's. On January twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, he wrote on the David Duberg profile saying, quote,
Speaker 1: Dear David's readers, he asked me to let you know
Speaker 1: that he can't post or even answer your messages yet
Speaker 1: his email Major dot Buburg at gmail dot com is
Speaker 1: fully functional. He'll be back on Facebook on February twenty third,
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. End quote. This exact same message, word for word,
Speaker 1: will be posted at a later date by Vlad Blutsky,
Speaker 1: a former coordinator of the Free Russia Foundation, Perhaps a
Speaker 1: clear case of internal coordination at David Duberg Club. US
Speaker 1: Navy later even confirmed that, yes, the Ben Anderson account
Speaker 1: who posted the message is indeed the legit US Navy
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Commander Ben Anderson. How curious. Now, remember the Freemason
Speaker 1: patch I was talking about earlier, the one David Duberg
Speaker 1: was seen wearing on his military gear. Well, get this,
Speaker 1: The many social gatherings that David Duberg publicly attended were
Speaker 1: tied to rappaport, including a local chapter of the Freemason,
Speaker 1: the Scottish Rite Freemasonry Chapter in Washington, d C. Of
Speaker 1: all places. Now, don't worry, I'm not about to don
Speaker 1: at tinfoyl hat and claim Freemasons all the world. But
Speaker 1: they are an influential old boys club that's perfect for
Speaker 1: organizing amongst the wealthy board men of this world. Despite
Speaker 1: what they say, they do have some sway. I'd go
Speaker 1: as far as to say that a Freemason meeting in Washington,
Speaker 1: DC is perhaps the perfect place for organizing what became
Speaker 1: a high tier influence campaign with David Duberg Club. Also,
Speaker 1: it seems that the real identity of the public face
Speaker 1: of David Duberg, Steve Ferrow, was also part of the Freemasons.
Speaker 1: As David Duberg, he was photographed next to active US
Speaker 1: Army Colonel Rob Mitchell. Mitchell is also a Freemason. Dubog
Speaker 1: posted these photos on his Facebook profile, congratulating Mitchell on
Speaker 1: becoming a colonel. As du Berg, he called Mitchell his friend, colleague,
Speaker 1: and brother. Other members of David Dubog Club would continue
Speaker 1: to out themselves by communicating with du Berg as if
Speaker 1: he was a real person, Kuzomenko writes, quote du Berg
Speaker 1: attempted to boost his credibility by frequently referring to a
Speaker 1: number of rapper sports friends who openly talted their military credentials,
Speaker 1: such as dmitriy Mining and Eric Kneilov. These friends would
Speaker 1: also post photographs and other content that referred to Duburg
Speaker 1: as if he were a real person, such as March
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen Facebook posts from Eric Karneilov showing a group
Speaker 1: of soldiers with the text remember this beautiful day, David,
Speaker 1: We definitely had some fun. Bro. Many of these individuals
Speaker 1: were used to prop up Duberg as an actual, well
Speaker 1: connected person. Were friends with Rappaport and in his social circles,
Speaker 1: including being in this same local Freemason chapter. These contacts
Speaker 1: were all living in or around Washington, DC. But another
Speaker 1: Rapperport contact was perhaps the most vital in creating false
Speaker 1: legitimacy to the Pentagon official, Steve Ferrow, whose face was
Speaker 1: used to represent Duberg End's quote feraoh New Rappaport from
Speaker 1: Houston University. They were in the same threat together, the
Speaker 1: hilariously named Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Pharaoh denies any knowledge
Speaker 1: of the David Duburg account. However, after being questioned about
Speaker 1: this by Kusamenko, Pharaoh quickly deleted photos from his own
Speaker 1: Facebook profile that linked him to Duburg and Rappaport. It's
Speaker 1: clear that Rappaport was not the sole person involved with
Speaker 1: David Duberg. I think it's obvious at this stage that
Speaker 1: a small collective of Rappaport's friends and associates, several from
Speaker 1: his freemasonry lodge, were instrumental in promoting David Duberg as
Speaker 1: a means to spread pro American, anti Kremlin Russian information.
Speaker 1: Pretty much everything Dan Rappaport was involved and invested in.
Speaker 1: Some might ask the question was Dan Rappaport just a
Speaker 1: Pentagon fanboy lapping as an insider or was he a
Speaker 1: Pentagon insider lapping as a businessman. Well, the Pentagon deniers
Speaker 1: ever employing a David Duberg and said it's nothing to
Speaker 1: do with them, which they would incus Menko showed his
Speaker 1: findings to several people within the intelligence sphere. They had
Speaker 1: an unusual response. Glen Carlei, a veteran of the CIA
Speaker 1: and former deputy officer on the National Intelligence Council, said
Speaker 1: that it was a quote crap initiative, it was created
Speaker 1: by a quote fool, and curiously was probably a Russian
Speaker 1: disinformation campaign as opposed to an actual anti Russian operation.
Speaker 1: Ludmila Subchuk Borisova, a Russian journalist known for investigating government
Speaker 1: back internet troll factories, also looked at Kuzmenko's work. She said,
Speaker 1: quote Dubog resembles propagandist fake accounts that a troll factory
Speaker 1: in Russia would create, a whole group of people would
Speaker 1: work on something like this. Still, propagandist efforts, regardless of
Speaker 1: who runs them, tend to look alike. Dubug is not
Speaker 1: necessarily a Russian project. On the other hand, a recent
Speaker 1: report in Russia pointed out that some anti Russian foreign
Speaker 1: experts invited onto Russian TV as token representatives of the
Speaker 1: West are often actually paid to serve as virtual punching
Speaker 1: bags for local anchors to ridicule ends. Quote author Peter Pomorantseev,
Speaker 1: a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics,
Speaker 1: also thought the case was strange. He said, quote what
Speaker 1: struck me first is that the whole thing could be
Speaker 1: a surreal prank. An extravagant individual undertaking. It's not how
Speaker 1: you imagine secret services to work. But then again, considering
Speaker 1: that it spanned such a long period of time, it
Speaker 1: could be a case of freelance work where someone a freelancer,
Speaker 1: ventures out on his own kick, starts a certain project,
Speaker 1: and later pitches an already running operation to a potential buyer.
Speaker 1: Things aren't necessarily always linear, as in there's a side
Speaker 1: that orders everything and an executor. I think we are
Speaker 1: seeing more and more of that thing and it becomes
Speaker 1: increasingly accessible. Again this case, the Jewberg case, appears to
Speaker 1: be a weird propaganda campaign meant for Russian state broadcaster
Speaker 1: Novosti ends quote. It seems that the David Duberg slash
Speaker 1: Dan Rappaport rabbit hole never ends. The du Burg saga is,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, a case of a small group of
Speaker 1: people creating a smoke screen for their own internal political
Speaker 1: influence that snowballed faster and bigger than they intended it to. Remember,
Speaker 1: it caught the eye of the Kremlin. They no doubt
Speaker 1: worked out who was behind it as well, putting Rappaport
Speaker 1: in their sights once again, So you have to ask yourself,
Speaker 1: did this contribute to Dan Rappaport's death. Was he pushed
Speaker 1: out of his window for building a fake profile that
Speaker 1: began to spread news of plans for US domination of
Speaker 1: Russia through Putin's backyard. Who knows, at the very least,
Speaker 1: I think when you combine the David Duberg situation with
Speaker 1: Rappaport's previous problems with the Kremlin, it begins to make
Speaker 1: him look like a target not so irrelevant to Putin
Speaker 1: as before. That is, if this was a hit. We
Speaker 1: don't know now. Remember at the start, when we spoke
Speaker 1: about Rappaport's dog, the supposed suicide note and the cash
Speaker 1: attached to the collar. This bizarre tale came from a
Speaker 1: Russian source. This source is a telegram channel ran by
Speaker 1: the former editor of the Russian Tatler magazine, Yanaiya Pugachiva.
Speaker 1: She's basically a gossip reporter. This convoluted and according to
Speaker 1: Rappaporte's wife, false story about the dog was used to
Speaker 1: explain how the Russian telegram channel discover the death of Rappaport.
Speaker 1: She broke the story. In the words of vlad Burlatsky,
Speaker 1: who commented on the death of Rappaport, how the hell
Speaker 1: did she learn about Dan's alleged suicide. Well, there's a theory,
Speaker 1: here's sergery.
Speaker 2: The main reason a Fasbar and other similar agencies use
Speaker 2: gossip sites or telegram channels or you know, independent creators
Speaker 2: is because I think people have a distrust with the
Speaker 2: mainstream You see this in the West, mainstream media or whatever.
Speaker 2: They don't believe it. They people are drawn to independent creators.
Speaker 2: They're drawn to alternative media, whether it be like individual
Speaker 2: comment creators, alternative outlets that are kind of new and
Speaker 2: like web based. Similar in Russia, you know, telegram is
Speaker 2: very popular. Telegram new channels are very often used, and
Speaker 2: I think they have sort of like an authenticity and
Speaker 2: credibility that people think that like state news outlets don't have.
Speaker 2: They see that, you know. I think the skepticism in
Speaker 2: Russians is like, if it's being like, if it's reporting
Speaker 2: on something, it's probably being controlled in some way. If
Speaker 2: it's not straight up controlled by the government, it's probably
Speaker 2: being influenced. And this is true for any kind of
Speaker 2: information they get, whether it's from the Russian government or
Speaker 2: from you know, the West. I mean, especially from the West.
Speaker 2: They're skeptical of anything. There's a bunch of different you know,
Speaker 2: it's a scale of how skeptical people are. Some people
Speaker 2: buy into and some people don't. And I think for
Speaker 2: those that are skeptical of the Russian media, they turn
Speaker 2: to independent creators and telegram news channels and they use
Speaker 2: that as their like credible sorts of information. And I
Speaker 2: think agencies can use that and kind of disseminate information
Speaker 2: that they need through these sources, and it gives its
Speaker 2: kind of its own credibility. I guess. You know, it's like, well,
Speaker 2: it's kind of a silly let's say, a gossip side.
Speaker 2: It's like, oh, it's a silly website that talks about
Speaker 2: drama celebrity like flings or whatever, and then it reports
Speaker 2: this serious thing. You may kind of think, well, they're
Speaker 2: not political, they don't have any ties to the government,
Speaker 2: because they're just like who cares, They're like a gossip site,
Speaker 2: you know. But still people read it. They get that
Speaker 2: information and they take it at face value. You know.
Speaker 2: The thing with the note on reports dog, from what
Speaker 2: I could see, there was no dog or note or anything,
Speaker 2: but a lot of Russian sites reported it as fact,
Speaker 2: and the origin seems to be essentially a blogger. She's
Speaker 2: basically like an influencer who kind of reports on gossipy
Speaker 2: stories and yeah, and you kind of use that as like, well,
Speaker 2: she's independent, she has a reason to be controlled. She's
Speaker 2: a little call Simularian. And then yeah, you just kind
Speaker 2: of trust that more than something that you would believe
Speaker 2: to be controlled by the government.
Speaker 1: So, Russian intelligence services have been known to use gossip
Speaker 1: sites as a means to spread information quickly. Kind of smart,
Speaker 1: I guess, But why would they want to spread the
Speaker 1: news of Dan Rapperport's death and how did they know
Speaker 1: about it? So soon? I'll leave that for you to
Speaker 1: think about. To tie up this wild story of Dan
Speaker 1: Rapperport's death and strange life, let's look at his final
Speaker 1: Facebook post. This was posted just two days before he
Speaker 1: died after falling out the window. Rapperport put up a
Speaker 1: photo of Colonel Kurtz from the film Apocalypse Now. The character,
Speaker 1: played by Marlon Brando, is a US military colonel gone rogue.
Speaker 1: He slaughters fellow soldiers and basically starts a cult in
Speaker 1: the jungle. Kurtz is based on the Ivory Trader character
Speaker 1: from Joseph Conrad's eighteen ninety nine novella Heart of Darkness.
Speaker 1: Rappaport posted the photo with the caption the Horror, The
Speaker 1: horror a quote from Colonel Kurtz that I think sums
Speaker 1: up this whole series. Murder, deception, war, a mysterious bloodshed,
Speaker 1: the horror.
Speaker 2: Said.
Speaker 1: Oliger is a H eleven production for Cool Zone Media
Speaker 1: and iHeart Radio. Posted, produced, researched and edited by me
Speaker 1: Jake Hanrahan and Sergei Slipchenko. Co produced by Sophie Victim.
Speaker 1: Music by Sam Black, artwork by Adam mcdoyle, soundmix by
Speaker 1: Splicing Block. Go to Jacanrahan dot com for more information