Scot Young: 'Ring of death' claims after four friends also commit suicideScot Young becomes the fifth member of a close circle of friends and business associates who have taken their own lives in the last four years
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11287793/Scot-Young-Ring-of-death-claims-after-four-friends-also-commit-suicide.htmlBy Martin Evans, and Nicola Harley4:26PM GMT 11 Dec 2014
Friends of the bankrupt property tycoon, Scot Young, who died falling from his fourth storey London flat, have urged the police to investigate a potential ring of death, after it emerged that four of his close friends have all died in similar circumstances.
The 52-year-old father of two was discovered impaled on railings beneath his central London apartment on Monday afternoon, in what is thought to have been a suicide.
Scotland Yard said the death was not being treated as suspicious and has referred the matter to the coroner.
But associates of the former multi-millionaire have voiced concern after revealing that he is the fifth member of a tight knit circle of friends to have taken their own lives in the last four years.
One friend, who has known Mr Young for the last 20-years said he feared the deaths might not be a coincidence and has suggested Mr Young could have been murdered by the Russian or Turkish mafia.
He said Mr Young had huge debts and had already been threatened by gangsters two years ago when he was hung out of a window at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
The source said the police should probe the other deaths to see if they were connected in anyway as they bore startling similarities.
Last month,
Johnny Elichaoff, 55, the former husband of TV presenter Trinny Woodall, and a friend of Mr Young, died after falling from the roof of Whiteleys shopping centre in west London.
The drummer and antiques dealer, was known to have business problems and is thought to have been talked down from the same roof just weeks earlier.
Starting out as a rock drummer, he went on to manage a number of successful bands including Tears for Fears and Fairground Attraction.
But he later became a financial adviser and it is through that business he is thought to have become friends with Mr Young.
His family said they were devastated but also shocked that he would have taken his own life.
Boris BerezovskyIn March last year, the Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, who was another close business associate of Mr Young, was found dead at his Berkshire home.
Mr Berezovsky, who was living in exile after falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was discovered in the bathroom with a ligature around his neck.
Thames Valley initially launched an investigation after concern that there may have been foul play involved, but detectives subsequently said there was no sign of any struggle.
Two years ago another of their friends, millionaire property tycoon, Robert Curtis, 47, who once dated the model Caprice, died falling under a Tube train in north West London.
Robert CurtisLike Mr Young he had made a fortune in the London property market and enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle with a fleet of luxury cars and a wardrobe full of designer clothes.
But again like Mr Young he suffered badly in the recession and was eventually left struggling under huge debts.
Mr Curtis had been badly affected, in 2010, by the suicide of fellow property entrepreneur, Paul Castle, who also died under a Tube train.
Like Mr Young, Mr Castle, who made and lost two fortunes, came from humble origins and left school with few qualifications.
Paul CastleBut his business acumen brought him great rewards and he moved in the same circles as some of Britain’s wealthiest tycoons.
A keen polo player, he played alongside Prince Charles, something he was immensely proud of.
But he later took his own life, throwing himself under a Tube train at Bond Street, not far from his London office.
All five men moved in the same circles and would regularly enjoy nights out at some of London’s finest restaurants.
The man, who now fears for his own safety, and asked not to be identified, said: “I do not believe for one minute Scot committed suicide, my heart tells me he was killed.
“There were five friends who all ate together at Cipriani who are all now dead. They were all linked in business and all owed a lot of money to the wrong people.”
“I'm absolutely devastated. He [Scot] was a really nice guy. I think they have been murdered or forced to take themselves out.”
Man who introduced Scot Young and ‘Ring of Death’ to Russians killed in helicopter crashLawyer died after telling friends: 'If anything happens it will not be an accident'
By Nicola Harley, and Victoria Ward9:28AM GMT 12 Dec 2014
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11289403/Man-who-introduced-Scot-Young-and-Ring-of-Death-to-Russians-killed-in-helicopter-crash.htmlThe man who introduced Scot Young and two of his closest friends, all of whom died in strange circumstances, to his Russian contacts was killed in a mysterious helicopter crash, it has emerged.
Stephen Curtis, a lawyer, was killed when his brand new £1.5m helicopter crashed just a mile from Bournemouth airport in 2004.
After his death, papers were found purporting to allege that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had swindled his former business partners out of hundreds of millions of pounds, the high court has heard. Mr Abramovich argued they were forged.
A week before the fatal crash Mr Curtis is said to have told a friend: “If anything happens to me in the next few weeks, it will not be an accident.”
Mr Young, a tycoon who claimed he had lost all his money in a Russian business deal, plunged to his death from his London penthouse on Monday afternoon. Scotland Yard said the death was not being treated as suspicious and has referred the matter to the coroner.
A friend of the 52-year-old told the Telegraph that Mr Curtis introduced Mr Young, Robert Curtis and Paul Castle to his billionaire Russian contacts and represented them in property deals. He was also an associate of the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.