The secret will of Badri Patarkatsishvili

Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Russian billionaire, died on February 12, 2008.  Here are some of the interesting events that have unfolded since that time:

• Badri’s family claimed that he did not leave a will.
• Several days after his death, Emanuel Zeltser, a New York attorney, attended Badri’s wake and told his widow that Badri had signed a secret will naming as executor his half-cousin who lives in Florida.
• Over the next several months, Zeltser and the half-cousin attempted to gain access to Badri’s global fortune and filed several lawsuits claiming that two Americans were using forged documents to obtain estate property.
• Zeltser then either fled or was kidnapped ending up in Belarus where he was imprisoned after being charged with economic espionage and the use of false documents.
• Zeltser plead not-guilty but was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to three years in prison where he currently resides.
• Secretary of State Clinton is attempting to get Zeltser released because of his deteriorating medical condition.
• Investigation has revealed that Zeltser’s law degree is fake but that he nonetheless passed the New York bar and was admitted to practice in 1990.
• Zeltser was allegedly involved with at variety of multi-billion dollar scams and money laundering.

For a detailed report of this case, see Bob Drogin, From a Belarus prison, U.S. lawyer’s last battle, LA Times, March 4, 2009.