Pavel Durov, a billionaire who embraces an all-black wardrobe and is often compared to the character Neo from "the Matrix," funds Telegram through his personal wealth and debt financing. And despite being one of the world's most popular tech companies, Telegram reportedly has only about 30 employees who defer to Durov for most major decisions about the platform. The perpetrators use various names to carry out the investment scams. They may also impersonate or clone licensed capital market intermediaries by using the names, logos, credentials, websites and other details of the legitimate entities to promote the illegal schemes. "He has kind of an old-school cyber-libertarian world view where technology is there to set you free," Maréchal said. Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images Artem Kliuchnikov and his family fled Ukraine just days before the Russian invasion.
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