World Bulletin / News Desk

A murder investigation has been launched into the death of Russian businessman Nikolay Glushkov, British authorities said Friday.

The 68-year-old former deputy director of Russian state airline Aeroflot was found dead Monday at his south London home.

London Metropolitan Police said in a statement that their counter-terrorism command is now treating the case as murder following a post mortem showing the cause of death as “compression to the neck”.

Glushkov was a close associate of the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, according to local media reports.

Glushkov’s death is under heightened scrutiny following the recent poisoning in Salisbury, England of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia who remain in critical condition. As of now, however, it is officially deemed unrelated.

“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest any link to the attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he was poisoned,” a police statement said.

Glushkov had lived in London after his release from prison in 2004 after serving a five-year prison term for a money laundering conviction in Russia. He was later granted asylum in the UK.

He was a close friend of Berezovsky, who according to an inquiry was found hanged in his home in Berkshire, England in 2013.

At the time of Berezovsky’s death, Glushkov said he believed his friend had been murdered.

“I don't believe Boris died of natural causes. Too many deaths [of Russian exiles] have been happening,” he told the British daily the Guardian.

Berezovsky’s death is among up to 14 being reviewed by police and MI5 following the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter.

Glushkov was due to appear at a UK court in a case where Aeroflot claimed he stole $123 million from them. Last year, a Russian court found Glushkov guilty and sentenced him in absentia to eight years in prison.