The son of a crypto millionaire in Paris was kidnapped, tortured, and had a finger cut off to demand millions of euros in ransom.
A man was rescued by French security forces on Saturday night in the Essonne area, south of Paris, after being kidnapped in a ransom plot targeting his son - a millionaire in the cryptocurrency field. The incident marks a new case in the increasingly escalating chain of attacks targeting those involved with digital assets in France.
According to a statement from the Paris Prosecutor's Office, the victim was kidnapped on Thursday morning in the 14th district of the capital. A police source shared with Agence France-Presse (AFP) that four masked attackers forced the victim into a delivery vehicle. Authorities subsequently arrested five suspects in their 20s, including one caught while driving a vehicle related to the kidnapping.
The motive was financial, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom of 5 to 7 million euros in exchange for the victim's freedom. According to Le Parisien, the victim's son and he own a cryptocurrency marketing company registered in Malta. Investigators reported that the victim had a finger cut off, and police had to act urgently to prevent further torture.
An alarming trend in the crypto community
This incident is not an isolated case but part of a worrying trend targeting those involved in the cryptocurrency field in France. In January, David Balland - co-founder of Ledger, a French cryptocurrency company valued at over 1 billion USD - was also kidnapped along with his wife. Balland had a finger cut off, while his wife was later found tied up and locked in a car trunk in the Essonne area. This incident led to the prosecution of nine suspects.
Also in January, a 56-year-old father of a crypto influencer based in Dubai was found in a car trunk near the city of Mans, also in a context of ransom demands.
Security experts believe that the digital nature, difficulty in tracing, and high value of cryptocurrencies make owners or those related to this field attractive targets for organized crime. Crypto assets are often stored in digital wallets accessible through personal security keys, making money transfers quick and difficult to reverse if coerced.
These cases also raise questions about the need to enhance personal security for those working in the digital financial field, especially when the value of crypto assets remains high in recent years. European law enforcement agencies are also increasing efforts to combat this new type of crime, but the complexity of blockchain technology and the relative anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions create significant investigative challenges.
The latest incident in Paris further emphasizes that not only direct owners of digital assets but also their family members can become targets, raising an urgent need to raise awareness and implement appropriate protective measures in the cryptocurrency community.
