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He said he was an oligarch’s son. The lie had tragic consequences.

Source: economist.com

TL;DR

A 19-year-old Londoner posed as Zac Ismailov, son of a dead Russian oligarch awaiting a £200m inheritance, and fell to his death from a luxury apartment.
Zac Brettler befriended criminals Akbar Shamji and Verinder Sharma, who learned of his lies shortly before he jumped into the Thames on November 29, 2019.
His parents uncovered the double life, challenged the police suicide ruling, and exposed London's criminal underworld of wealth and violence.

The story at a glance

Patrick Radden Keefe's article reviews his book London Falling, which probes the 2019 death of Zac Brettler, a teenager from an upper-middle-class family who secretly posed as the son of a Russian oligarch. Brettler spent his last night with shady figures Akbar Shamji, a businessman, and Verinder Sharma, a gangland debt collector and drug trafficker, at a Thames-side high-rise. The piece is timed with the book's release on April 7, 2026, building on Keefe's earlier New Yorker investigation.

Key points

Brettler, real name Zac Brettler, introduced himself as Zac Ismailov to gain entry into elite circles, claiming his Dubai-based mother had evicted him from family properties amid an inheritance dispute.
He affected a Russian accent and fabricated bank statements showing access to millions, impressing contacts at art openings and nightclubs.
Brettler entangled himself with Akbar Shamji and Verinder Sharma (aka "Indian Dave"), who saw him as a mark for investment or extortion once his supposed fortune materialised.
On November 28, 2019, at the Riverwalk complex, Sharma discovered the deception; Brettler paced a fifth-floor balcony before jumping into the Thames at 2:24am.
Police ruled it suicide, but Brettler's parents, Matthew (financier) and Rachelle (journalist), rejected this after learning of his secret life and the men's involvement.
An inquest confirmed key facts but left the death unsolved; Keefe's reporting highlights how London's billionaire influx enabled such deceptions.

Details and context

Brettler grew up in Maida Vale, attended a posh private school alongside real oligarch children, and became obsessed with Instagram-flaunted luxury—fast cars, clubs, vast wealth. This "fake it till you make it" mindset, common in aspirational London, led him to befriend older, dangerous men seeking his phantom riches.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld)[[2]](https://www.economist.com/culture/2026/04/07/he-said-he-was-an-oligarchs-son-the-lie-had-tragic-consequences)

London's underworld thrives on post-Soviet oligarch money laundering: luxury towers like Riverwalk cater to the ultra-rich, blurring lines between legitimate finance and crime. Shamji and Sharma operated in debt collection, drugs, and "enforcement," viewing Brettler as an easy target until his lies unravelled—possibly sparking confrontation that night.[[3]](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/07/london-falling-by-patrick-radden-keefe-review-a-compulsive-tale-of-money-lies-and-avoidable-tragedy)[[4]](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/04/nx-s1-5766048/london-falling-review-patrick-radden-keefe)

The Brettlers' quest mirrors broader parental fears in a digital age of hidden lives; police offered little help, citing no evidence of foul play despite CCTV and witness gaps.

Key quotes

"He was the son of a late Russian oligarch and fighting with his mother over the estate. From her residence in Dubai, she had evicted him from all of the family’s luxury properties."[[2]](https://www.economist.com/culture/2026/04/07/he-said-he-was-an-oligarchs-son-the-lie-had-tragic-consequences)

Why it matters

London's gilded surface hides a predatory underworld fed by unchecked billionaire inflows, where impressionable youth risk fatal entanglements. For families, it warns of unseen digital deceptions and the limits of parental oversight in unequal cities. Watch police reinvestigation or A24 adaptation, though the case may stay officially unsolved.[[5]](https://www.avclub.com/a24-london-falling-patrick-radden-keefe)