A former Kremlin official was found dead in his Moscow apartment with his wife and youngest daughter

A former Kremlin official and vice president of Gazprombank was found dead in his Moscow apartment by his 26-year-old daughter, police reported.

Next to the body of billionaire Vladislav Avayev, 51, were his wife Yelena, 47, and his youngest daughter Maria, 13.

The bodies, all with gunshot wounds from “Avayev's pistol”, were found by the couple's eldest daughter, Anastasia, when she opened the apartment after being unable to contact her family.

Researchers investigate any link Avayev has with his work and personal life.

Anastasia told officers that the gun was in her father's hand when she found her body, reports say.

Avayev had worked as a senior executive at Gazprombank, a key part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to impose ruble gas payments as a counterattack on Western sanctions.

The executive left the private bank as vice president, but it is not clear if he was still linked to it.

He had also served as deputy director of an important department of the Kremlin administration. He was rich thanks to his construction company, according to the British newspaper Daily Mail.

One of the theories about the reasons for death holds that jealousy existed after her husband's driver discovered that Yelena was five months pregnant.

However, the reports are not clear as to whether the woman was pregnant.

Other accounts suggest that Avayev had discovered that his wife was cheating on him, and that the driver had resigned.

According to the couple's eldest daughter, 13 guns were found in the apartment, which was locked inside.

A neighbor said that death may be linked to “sanctions”. “Everyone is depressed, some are willing to go to extreme measures,” he said, according to Daily Mail.

He said sanctions and the economic recession could have affected his business. “He may have gone into debt and decided to shoot himself,” he added.

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