Police allegedly investigated a bid to poison the former son-in-law of the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky just weeks before the Sergei Skripal poison plot.
Georgy Shuppe, 46, collapsed at his house in Oxshott, Surrey, which was formerly owned by Aston Villa and ex-Chelsea footballer John Terry, it has been claimed.
Fears were raised as Mr Shuppe was known as an enemy of President Vladimir Putin, but the probe was closed after officers decided he had a ‘medical’ collapse.
Georgy Shuppe (left) collapsed at his house in Surrey just weeks before former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal (right) was left in a critical condition by a nerve agent in Salisbury
Mr Shuppe is the former son-in-law of the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky (pictured)
It came three months before former Russian double agent Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were left in a critical condition by a nerve agent in Salisbury.
Forensic officers spent a week going through the £5million home where Mr Shuppe collapsed and dozens of officers were on the case, reported The Sun.
Detectives are believed to have looked into whether Mr Shuppe was targeted by an assassin, but he was released from hospital and the probe was shut down.
However, a neighbour said the attack on the Skripals last week had left him convinced that a similar attempt had been made against Mr Shuppe’s life.
In August, Russia failed to extradite Mr Shuppe (pictured) to face a murder charge in his native country, for allegedly organising a hit on a property magnate
He told The Sun: ‘At the time several of us thought it was an attempt on his life. But now with Salisbury it fuels our suspicions.’
Meanwhile one of his bodyguards at his gated mansion told the Sun: ‘He’s all right now. Russians are now very afraid after what happened in Salisbury.’
In addition, a relative of Mr Shuppe nodded and said ‘yes’ when asked about the poisoning, adding: ‘Obviously, he does not want much known about him.’
A Surrey Police spokesman said: ‘We are satisfied this was a non-suspicious medical episode. There were no arrests.’
Aston Villa defender John Terry (pictured) had rented the mansion in the exclusive village which is near Chelsea’s training ground, before buying another nearby in 2014
Terry is pictured with his wife Toni in 2010. They married in 2007 and have two children
In August, Russia failed to extradite Mr Shuppe to face a murder charge in his native country, for allegedly organising a hit on property magnate Alexander Mineev.
Mr Mineev was executed by men armed with Kalashnikovs in Korolev in 2014 after starting legal proceedings against Mr Shuppe and a man named Mikhail Nekrich.
He was shot 22 times just a week before the trial was to be heard. But Mr Shuppe was told at Westminster Magistrates’ Court that he would not face extradition.
Mr Shuppe’s defence counsel Hugo Keith QC had argued that it would be a ‘PR coup for Russia unlike any other’ if the judge recommended his extradition.
Police patrol on Saturday outside a Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, which has been closed in connection with the nerve agent attack on the Skripals in the Wiltshire cathedral city
He argued that it was a trophy extradition’ and a political attempt by the Kremlin to rein in an ally of former Putin critic Mr Berezovsky.
Mr Shuppe was a former business partner and close confidante of Mr Berezovsky, and had recently divorced his daughter Yekaterina Berezovsky.
Mr Berezovsky, who was found dead at his home in Ascot, Berkshire, in 2013 aged 67. Mr Shuppe’s lawyer said he would not get a fair trial in Russia.
Former England defender Terry, 37, had rented the mansion in the exclusive village which is near Chelsea’s training ground, before buying another nearby in 2014.