French authorities have arrested five people, including one minor, on charges of kidnapping the father of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, prosecutors said Saturday. In recent months France has seen several kidnappings and attempted abductions targeting cryptocurrency businesspeople and their families, and authorities have been under huge pressure to act.
French authorities have arrested five people on charges of kidnapping the father of an influencer and cryptocurrency entrepreneur, prosecutors said on Saturday.
In recent months France has seen several kidnappings and attempted abductions targeting cryptocurrency businesspeople and their families, and authorities have been under huge pressure to act.
On December 31, 2024, five armed people attacked a man and a woman in their home in the eastern town of Saint-Genis-Pouilly near the Swiss border.
In exchange for their release, the attackers demanded a ransom from their son, an influencer living in Dubai, prosecutors said at the time.
When they did not receive the ransom, they abducted the father, who was found a few hours later in the boot of a car in the department of Sarthe nearly 700 kilometres (435 miles) away.
The 56-year-old man had been “assaulted, doused with petrol and transported in the boot of a car”, prosecutor Karine Malara said in a statement.
His wife was found tied up at her home in Saint-Genis-Pouilly.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
France makes arrests over kidnapping of crypto entrepreneur’s father
Suspect in French crypto sector kidnappings arrested in Morocco, justice minister says