Cryptocurrency extortionists in Paris sever kidnap victim’s finger

PARIS: Criminals kidnapped the father of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur in Paris and severed one of his fingers to extort millions from him.

The police managed to free the kidnapping victim and arrest the suspects through an extraordinary operation, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed on May 4.

The suspects are five men aged between 20 and 27, according to the public prosecutor’s office. The injured victim was treated by emergency services.

Police sources indicated that the perpetrators would have further mutilated the victim if the special forces had not intervened, the magazine Paris Match reported.

The French entrepreneur runs a cryptocurrency company based in Malta and France, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

Four masked perpetrators reportedly dragged his father into a van in front of witnesses on Friday morning, kidnapped him, and demanded between €5mil and €7mil (RM24.02mi and RM33.63mil) from the entrepreneur. However, no ransom is said to have been paid. The family claimed they had been threatened beforehand.

The judiciary has launched investigations into kidnapping, unlawful detention and torture, the public prosecutor’s office said.

Only three months ago, a co-founder of the cryptocurrency company Ledger, David Balland, and his wife were kidnapped in France. The kidnappers demanded about €10mil (RM48.04mil) in the form of Bitcoin and severed the entrepreneur’s finger to emphasise their demand. The police were able to free the victims in this case as well and apprehend seven suspects. – dpa