Teen’s false life as a Russian oligarch’s son ends in five-storey death plunge, but his new friends give everyone pause

Zac Brettler died after plummeting from a fifth-floor balcony of a luxury London apartment, directly across the Thames from MI6 headquarters, in 2019. An inquest officially ruled the death of the 19-year-old as suicide. However, his parents, Matthew and Rachelle Brettler, believe the truth is far more sinister.

Per the NY Post, Zac was an intelligent, sociable teenager from a comfortable Jewish family in the respectable London neighborhood of Maida Vale. So, his parents watched in confusion as he suddenly underwent a radical transformation, becoming obsessed with a polished, luxury lifestyle and idolizing figures like Vladimir Putin and Jordan Belfort. 

Eventually, he adopted the alias Zac Ismailov, pretending to be the son of a Russian oligarch and a Swiss model. He mastered a Russian-inflected accent, used a .ru email address, and wore expensive clothing. He even claimed to live at One Hyde Park, London’s most expensive apartment building.

A dangerous lie that led him to dangerous people

Zac fell under the influence of Akbar Shamji, a crypto investor with a history of questionable deals. He mentored the teen and moved him into a Riverwalk apartment that belonged to Verinder Sharma, a notorious gangster. Sharma had a reputation for collecting debts by dangling victims over balconies, a detail that makes the official suicide ruling seem even more suspicious to Zac’s parents.

Rachelle Brettler spoke at the inquest, noting that Zac “wanted money and power. Fast.” She and her husband believe Zac did not jump to end his life, but to escape a violent encounter. An autopsy suggested that Zac may have suffered a broken jaw before he fell, which points toward a struggle rather than a voluntary leap.

Many criticized the investigation as inept. As author Patrick Radden Keefe details in his book, London Falling, the city had become a place where authorities often looked the other way regarding the activities of wealthy foreign actors. 

The situation only grew more complicated after Zac’s death. Sharma, the primary suspect, died of a drug overdose exactly one year later. Meanwhile, the police never charged Shamji. Rachelle Brettler summarized the situation by saying, “It was three bulls— artists, selling air.”

Evidence that police reportedly ignored adds another chilling layer. Shortly before Zac’s death, Shamji sent a text to his drug dealer stating, “I am not f—ing playing. I have just been heating up knives and clearing up blood.” Zac’s final internet search, conducted less than thirty minutes before the fall, was for “what to do with skin burns.” 

An underworld associate later confirmed that heating up knife blades was a signature method used by Sharma to intimidate people. Faced with that kind of brutality, it is easy to see why someone might attempt a desperate escape, even if it meant a dangerous jump toward the river.