According to local media reports, Russian crypto billionaire Vyacheslav Taran was killed in a helicopter crash, and he was supposed to go with another unidentified passenger who abruptly cancelled.
The latest cryptocurrency businessman to pass away in unexplained circumstances is a Russian entrepreneur whose helicopter crashed in good weather near Monaco.
After taking off from Lausanne in Switzerland, the chopper crashed in the resort town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, killing 53-year-old entrepreneur Vyacheslav Taran.
Taran is the third cryptocurrency entrepreneur to pass away suddenly in recent weeks.
Last week, Tiantian Kullander, 30, passed away “in his sleep,” while Nikolai Mushegian, 29, a fellow cryptocurrency millionaire, drowned on a beach in Puerto Rico after tweeting that he thought the CIA and Mossad were going to kill him.
The tycoon’s death is currently shrouded in mystery because the crash that killed Taran took place in clear, pleasant weather and after another passenger reportedly abruptly cancelled.
In a single-engined H130 helicopter, Taran, the co-founder of trading and investing platform Libertex and Forex Club, was travelling from Lausanne with an experienced pilot when it crashed at around 1pm on November 25.
A French pilot, age 35, also died.
After seeing the scene, Nice’s deputy public prosecutor stated that it was impossible to exclude out the involvement of a third party.
According to local media, Taran was supposed to go with another unidentified passenger who abruptly cancelled.
With his wife Olga, the creator of Hello Monaco media, Taran, a highly successful offshore specialist who has lived in Monaco for the past ten years, has three children.
Without providing any supporting information, the Ukrainian news source UNIAN asserted that Taran was a “billionaire crypto businessman with likely ties to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.”
He was accused of being associated with the SVR foreign intelligence agency and of “laundering Russian funds through a system of cryptocurrency operations,” according to the allegations.
Since then, Olga has firmly refuted these allegations, calling them “an absolute and utter lie.”
There has been a flood of condolences sent to the family in Monaco as a result of the incident.
“It is with great sadness that Libertex Group confirms the death of its co-founder and chairman of board of directors, Vyacheslav Taran, after a helicopter crash that took place en route to Monaco on Friday, 25 November 2022,” said a statement from the financier’s company.
“The board of directors of Libertex Group and company employees extend their most heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the Taran family.”
An unknown “serious disease” claimed the life of Viktor Cherkesov, 72, a close KGB spy and mentor of Vladimir Putin who was demoted after publicly criticising the Kremlin leader.
Ivan Pechorin, 39, the director of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, also passed away recently. He ‘fell overboard’ from his yacht in September.
The Russian Railways PR manager Pavel Pchelnikov, 52, was shot dead in his Moscow apartment that same month, and senior Gazprom executive Alexander Tyulakov, 61, was discovered hanging at his home in Moscow.
Vyacheslav Taran, a 53-year-old cryptocurrency entrepreneur, is the third prominent figure in the sector to pass away suddenly in recent weeks.
Days after 30-year-old Tiantian Kullander passed away “in his sleep,” Taran was killed in a helicopter accident close to Monaco.
Additionally, 29-year-old crypto billionaire Nikolai Mushegian drowned on a beach in Puerto Rico after tweeting his concern that the CIA and Mossad were planning to kill him.
As a result of the fatalities, at least five cryptocurrency billionaires have passed away suddenly since 2018, often giving rise to irrational and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.
The funds were inaccessible because Gerald Cotten and Matthew Mellon, the other two, passed away without disclosing the keys to crypto wallets valued hundreds of millions of dollars.
The enigmatic and contentious nature of Cotten’s death led to a Netflix documentary exploring the possibility that it was all staged.
In the meantime, Mellon, the ex-husband of Tamara Mellon, the co-founder of Jimmy Choo, had a heart attack as he was about to enter a Mexican drug rehabilitation center.
Tiantian Kullander
The co-founder of Amber Group, a cryptocurrency trading platform that was reportedly valued at $3 billion, was Tiantian Kullander, 30.
According to a statement released by the business on Friday, Kullander passed away “unexpectedly in his sleep” on November 23.
He is survived by his wife and their son, a statement from Amber Group said.
The company, which is based in Singapore, didn’t say where Kullander passed away. A cause of death had also not been revealed on Monday.
Amber Group said: “Tiantian (or ‘TT’, as he was lovingly known) was instrumental to the founding of Amber and a pillar of our success. He put his heart and soul into the company, in every stage of its growth.
“He led by example with his intellect, generosity, humility, diligence and creativity.
“TT was a respected thought leader and widely recognized as a pioneer for the industry.
“His depth of knowledge, his willingness to collaborate and his desire to always help others benefited countless start-ups and individuals. His insights and creativity inspired many projects, people and communities.”
The Singapore-based Amber Group is listed as having locations in Athens, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, Taipei, Tokyo, Vancouver, and Zurich on their website.
The Amber Group was established in 2017 by Kullander, a former trader for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Recently, the company was given a $3 billion valuation.
Nikolai Mushegian
On October 28, Nikolai Mushegian, 29, passed away just hours after tweeting his concern that the CIA and Mossad were planning to murder him.
The family of the troubled young millionaire does not suspect foul play; he had a history of mental health issues.
However, a few of his friends have believed the unfounded claims that his death was suspicious.
A few hours before he passed away, Mushegian tweeted: “CIA and Mossad and pedo elite are running some kind of sex-trafficking entrapment blackmail ring out of Puerto Rico and Caribbean islands.”
“They are going to frame me with a laptop planted by my ex [girlfriend] who was a spy. They will torture me to death.”
‘”His mother clarified that his death had nothing to do with his [conspiracy] tweets.
“He was a beautiful man and a child at heart. He was also an incredible visionary, I don’t call people brilliant very often but Nikolai was brilliant.
“And brilliant people sometimes walk the edge of insanity,” he said.
Nikolai’s family had become so concerned for his welfare that his father had gone to stay with him in Condado, Puerto Rico, where he is said to have lived in a $6million house.
Gerald Cotten
Gerald Cotten passed away in 2018, sparking so much attention and controversy that the Netflix documentary Trust No One investigated it.
On December 9, 2018, the 30-year-old founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency company QuadrigaCX passed away while on a honeymoon with his wife in India.
The keys required to access crypto assets worth millions of dollars were only known to him.
He signed a will just nine days prior to his passing, which added to the strange circumstances surrounding his premature death and raised questions about whether Cotten, the CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, faked the entire thing.
On December 8, 2018, Cotten and his wife checked into the Oberoi Rajvilas hotel in Jaipur, which costs $932 per night, nine days into their honeymoon, according to the Canadian Globe and Mail.
Cotten complained of severe stomach pain shortly after checking in, and after being taken to a neighbouring hospital, he was identified as having traveler’s diarrhoea.
After 24 hours, he passed away.
An autopsy wasn’t done.
Three days before departing for India, Cotten submitted a detailed will that bequeathed everything to Robertson, including his $12 million in real estate, a Lexus sports car, a Cessna aeroplane, a 50-foot sailboat, bank accounts, and frequent flyer miles. This raised even more suspicion.
Curiously, he didn’t mention the external hard drives that held the majority of Quadriga’s assets; instead, he put aside $100,000 for the upkeep of their Chihuahuas.
Matthew Mellon
Matthew Mellon, a troubled banking heir, passed away in 2018 from a heart attack while he was getting ready to enter a drug rehab facility in Cancun, Mexico.
He was the sole one with access to the cryptocurrency and owned XRP coins worth more than $200 million.
According to reports, Mellon never gave anyone the keys required to access the XRP. Some of the keys were kept in storage facilities across the US under other people’s names.
When Mellon first started to show interest in the asset, XRP was only worth a tiny fraction of a penny. The cryptocurrency’s peak trading price was over $1 per coin.
Mellon’s initial $2 million investment reached a peak value of about $1 billion.
Mellon was survived by his first wife Tamara Mellon – who is the co-founder of Jimmy Choo – and his second wife, fashion designer Nicole Hanley. In addition, he is the father of three kids—two with Nicole and one with Tamara.
Mellon was born in New York City into one of the oldest financial families, descending from Judge Thomas Mellon, who founded Mellon Bank, and American financier Anthony Joseph Drexel, who founded Drexel University.
He inherited a cool $25 million when he reached 21, according to Vanity Fair, and was raised in both Northeast Harbor, Maine, and Delray Beach, Florida.
After attending the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, he enjoyed successful careers in banking, telecommunications, and fashion.
In addition, Mellon held the position of chairman of the Republican Party of New York’s financial committee for a while.
He added to his wealth with his crypto-currency career by buying and selling Bitcoin.
He bought $2 million in the XRP token, which increased in value to a $1 billion fortune, and joined the Ripple Labs Global Ambassador programme in May 2015.
However, in the wake of his passing, his family is reportedly frantically searching for his fortune in cryptocurrency, which appears to have “disappeared.”
“Something weird has happened to all his crypto money and his family can’t find it,” they said.
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