Friend claims Ladies of London’s Scot Young was murdered by the Russian mafia

When British entrepreneur Scot Young’s death was reported earlier this week, London police said they weren’t treating his fall from his apartment as suspicious. However, they also seemed to be careful not to refer to it as suicide. Now, a “close associate” claims the troubled businessman was murdered by the Russian mafia.

“I do not believe for one minute Scot committed suicide, my heart tells me he was killed. There is no way he would have jumped to his death,” the source told The Telegraph, explaining Scot got into trouble with the shady characters because of unpaid debt. The source also said the Russian mafia threatened Scot two years ago by hanging him out of a window at the Dorchester Hotel. He added, “He never went back there after that. He owed a lot of money to the wrong sort of people.”

Once among the wealthiest businessmen in his country, Scot was accused of hiding some of his fortune during his divorce from his first wife. He claimed he lost the money when a Moscow property investment fell through. However, Scot was imprisoned in 2013 and ordered to pay his ex an additional $20 million, even though he said he was bankrupt. After that, Ladies of London‘s Noelle Reno said Scot wasn’t the same.

“Over the period I’ve known him his confidence has dwindled as he’s been stripped of his dignity and privacy by all the divorce has brought,” Noelle said of her fiance.

Another friend told The Daily Mail that Scot seemed particularly paranoid in recent months: “He was very worried, he said he knew someone was following him. Many of Scot’s friends aren’t surprised that he died.”

Yet another source said Scot and Noelle actually called off their engagement weeks ago, potentially exacerbating his anxieties. That friend said, “Things were civil and they were getting along, Noelle just couldn’t cope with the pressures of being with Scot — he was still very much living the millionaire’s lifestyle without any of the money to back it up.”

In light of the new claims, Scotland Yard reiterated today that Scot’s death is not being treated as suspicious. Noelle was reportedly in the apartment at the time of Scot’s death.