© Provided by The Daily Beast via YouTubeA Russian billionaire has become the latest cryptocurrency figure to die mysteriously in recent weeks. Forex Club founder Baceslav Taran, head of trading platform Libertex Group, was the only passenger in the Monacare helicopter that crashed near the French city of Villefranche-sur-Mer over the weekend.
Taran, 53, was flying from Lausanne, Switzerland, to Monaco with the 35-year-old veteran pilot before the crash. Local reports said the helicopter hit a hill in clear weather.
Adding to the mystery, France Bleu reported that another passenger canceled at the last minute, although there were no immediate details on who that passenger was.
Interestingly, a traditionally pro-Kremlin Russian media responded to the news of Taran's death with a story that he had "enemies in Russia".
According to local media, an investigation has been opened to explain the causes of the accident.
“The Libertex Group confirms with great sadness the death of its founder and Chairman of the Board, Vyacheslav Taran, on Friday, November 25, 2022, following a helicopter crash en route to Monaco,” Libertex, a leading cryptocurrency trading company, said in a statement.
The Russian embassy in Paris confirmed Taran's death and said that representatives were in contact with his family, according to the Tass news agency.
Born in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, Taran has lived in Munich for the past few years, where he is well known in the financial technology sector. His death shocked Russia, as he founded the Forex Club in 1997 before becoming one of the three largest forex traders in the country and later launching the Libertex trading platform.
Life.ru writes: "The businessman earned millions of dollars not even as a trader, but by actively involving Russian citizens in currency speculation, promising them excellent income with minimal investment." “No one knows how much money actually came from the wallets of Russian citizens,” the news agency wrote, speculating that “that is why Taran had so many unhappy agents and enemies in Russia, who contacted him abroad.”
Russia's central bank revoked the licenses of the country's forex club and other currency dealers in 2018, allegedly because the company's subsidiaries lured clients to offshore firms.
Taran's death comes amid a series of fatal accidents involving cryptocurrency leaders.
Amber Group founder Tiantian Kulander died suddenly in his sleep last week at the age of 30. A few weeks ago, 29-year-old cryptocurrency developer Nicholas Mushegian was found dead on a beach in Puerto Rico. Be immersed
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