THE parents of an oligarch-obsessed teen who died after plunging into the Thames say cops missed key evidence.
Zac Brettler, 19, plummeted to his death from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury riverside apartment development in 2019.
AlamyZac Brettler, 19, plummeted to his death from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury riverside apartment development (pictured)[/caption]
A surveillance camera affixed to the MI6 headquarters captured Zak’s plunge at 2.24am on November 28.
The former public schoolboy had spent the evening with gangster Dave Sharma and the son of a millionaire Tory donor Akbar Shamji.
Phone records and CCTV images showed the pair probably knew Zak jumped to his death, according to The Times.
Sharma, known as Indian Dave, had been arrested in 2002 for a heroin-smuggling operation.
The wealthy businessman was also arrested after drug dealer Dave King died in a hail of bullets from an AK47 as he left a Hertfordshire gym in 2003, the BBC reported.
Sharma was found dead in 2020.
Sharma messaged a friend at 10.30pm saying he had been “heating up knives and cleaning the blood”, before adding in a separate message: “S**t’s about to go wrong. Wrong!”
Zak’s parents, Matthew and Rachelle, both 61, have questioned why detectives failed to interview key witnesses.
The director of a financial services company and journalist also accused the Metropolitan Police of “victim blaming”.
They claim the force was too quick to pursue the theory that Zac had taken his own life.
Matthew told The Times: “The omissions are highly suggestive of a degree of incompetence that it’s very hard to get one’s head around. You think, surely they can’t be that bad.
“My major criticism of the police is that there was no smoking gun and that then required them to do the hard yards in terms of detective work and they never showed a real appetite for it.”
Rachelle also described her grief to The New Yorker, which first reported the story.
She said: “I was living on that balcony with Zac, in my head.
“I literally had a stomach ache for months after he died, because you’re having to digest grief.”
Zac became fixated on wealth after attending Mill Hill – a private school in north London.
He found himself in the company of the children of oligarchs in 2013.
He spent his final year of school at Ashbourne College in Kensington, closer to the family home in Maida Vale, west London.
The Brettlers later found out that he introduced himself as Zac Ismailov – a Kazakh man and the son of a Russian oligarch.
He reportedly told people that his father had died and his mother, who lived in Dubai, was blocking his inheritance.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Our sincere condolences remain with Zac Brettler’s family, and we understand the uncertainty about how their son died must continue to be the cause of unimaginable pain.
“Whenever someone dies unexpectedly in London, we have established policing protocols to follow, and the investigation into Zac’s death was led by an experienced detective.
“The team worked hard to explore every possible hypothesis, which were shared with Zac’s family, but ultimately we were not able to provide fuller answers.
“The case was also reviewed by specialist homicide detectives to ensure every line of enquiry had been exhausted.
“As with any case, we would always encourage anyone who they believes they have additional information or evidence to contact police.
“Any new information will be examined on its own merit by a team led by experienced detectives.”
An inquest into Zac’s death was held between 13 to 16 December, 2022, at Poplar Coroner’s Court.
The coroner returned an open verdict.
During the course of the investigation into his death two men were arrested on suspicion of murder.
Both were released under investigation while investigations were undertaken.
The 47-year-old man [A] was released with no further action.
The man aged 55 [B] has subsequently died – his death was not suspicious.
The Met Police said the investigation has “concluded”.
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