The victim claims that the masked perpetrators were after his cryptocurrency, a police source says
Physical imitation of Bitcoins are pictured at a cryptocurrency exchange. © AFP / Ozan Kose
A Russian businessman has made a statement to police, claiming that masked men kidnapped him from his luxury car and intimidated him into revealing the key to his digital wallet with 250 bitcoins (around $17 million) on it, a law enforcement source has said.
The victim told the officers that the incident happened in Moscow on Thursday, with the perpetrators jumping out of a van, apprehending him, putting a bag on his head and driving him to an unknown location, a source who talked to RIA-Novosti news agency revealed.
“According to the claimant, the criminals took his mobile phone, on which an app was allegedly installed, allowing access to the so-called digital wallet. On it, there were 250 bitcoins. The attackers forced the man to reveal the password to this wallet,” he said.
After the perpetrators got what they wanted, they dropped the man off in woods not far from the town of Krasnogorsk, near the northwestern boundary of Moscow, the source said.
A criminal case investigating robbery has been launched, RIA-Novosti’s source added, pointing out, however, that it wasn’t clear at that moment if there really was such a sum in the digital wallet.
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Baza channel on Telegram posted CCTV footage that allegedly captured the moment of the kidnapping. It showed at least four camouflaged men in balaclavas getting the businessman out of his black Bentley, handcuffing him, and putting him in a van.
The outlet also revealed some more details of what had happened, saying that the perpetrators had threatened the man with a blowtorch to make him talk.
However, Baza claimed that the bitcoins were somehow not withdrawn and remained in the businessman’s wallet.
