Cryptographic wealth turned into a nightmare in Paris, where a father was kidnapped in broad daylight to force his millionaire son to pay a brutal ransom.
French police released a man during the weekend who was kidnapped in Paris as part of a ransom program against his rich son, prosecutors said. The victim, whose identity was not released, was removed on Thursday, May 2 in the 14th district of the city.
He was drawn and released in an late evening operation on Saturday May 3, in a suburb on the outskirts of the capital. Five men in their twenties were arrested as part of the crime of the French authorities. One of them was surprised driving a car thought to be used in the removal.
Targeted father on the richness of the cryptography of the son
The kidnappers targeted the money from the man’s son, a millionaire who heads a cryptocurrency marketing company in Malta with his father. The police said that the kidnapping occurred in the middle of the morning when four masked men removed the father from a delivery van.
The pattern was a ransom. The source of French news Le Parisien indicated that the kidnappers asked between 5 and 7 million euros. Investigators believe that the attackers knew the wealth of the son’s cryptocurrency and used the father as a means to intimidate him by paying.
The father of a Millionaire Crypto was kidnapped Thursday at Broad Daylight in Paris. Similar to the attack by David Bourd, a 5 m ransom of EURT was requested and one of the fingers of the victim was amputated.
– Jameson LOPP (@lopp) May 4, 2025
The finger cut to the family of the pressure victim
In a horrible act intended to put pressure on the victim’s son, a source told AFP that one of the father’s fingers had been cut, the police fearing new mutilation if they had not intervened.
The French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, went to X to congratulate the police, calling the “decisive” operation.
As of today, the market cap of cryptocurrencies stood at nearly $3 trillion. Chart: TradingView
Previous threats and criminal accusations
Police are now investigating if there were a history of threats involved. The victim’s wife informed the police that the family had already received threats. Anti-Gang officers and cybercrime experts collaborate to investigate the scope of the plot.
The five suspects can be accused of serious offenses, in particular kidnapping, blackmail, torture and armed extortion. Police said the investigation continues.
Similar attacks involving cryptography figures
This is not the first time that a member of the French cryptocurrency community has been targeted. David Balland, co-founder of the Crypto company of billions of dollars Ledger, was kidnapped on January 21 also in Paris.
His kidnappers amputated one of his fingers and called for ransom. He was then released. His girlfriend was then discovered in a car trunk.
While the richness of cryptocurrency gains in popularity, the French authorities seem to be struggling with an alarming trend: wealthy individuals in the cryptographic community, or those associated with them, are victims of brutal kidnapping.
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