French police have arrested 25 people, including six minors, in connection with a series of kidnappings and attempted abductions targeting the country’s cryptocurrency community. The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced the charges on Saturday, May 31. Eighteen of the suspects have been placed in pre-trial detention, while three have requested a deferred hearing and four are under judicial supervision.
The suspects range in age from 16 to 23 years old. The investigation primarily focuses on a May 13 incident in which four masked men attempted to kidnap the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the CEO of crypto firm Paymium, in broad daylight in Paris’ 11th arrondissement. The victims sustained minor injuries and were hospitalized.
Authorities said this incident is part of a broader investigation into several other failed abduction plots, including an earlier attempt on the same victims and a disrupted operation near Nantes on Monday.
Crypto kidnap ring dismantled
More than 20 suspects have been detained this week in connection with these schemes.
The suspects are mostly from the Paris region, with others hailing from Châtellerault, Senegal, Angola, and Russia. Attorney Ambroise Vienet-Legué, representing an 18-year-old suspect in the Nantes plot, noted that the case involves “very young profiles, lured by money and then caught up in situations beyond their control.”
Several of these abductions or attempted abductions have made headlines in France since the beginning of the year. A source close to the investigation pointed out connections between this case and a May 1 kidnapping of the father of a man who had become wealthy from cryptocurrencies.
While numerous “subordinates” and “logistics” figures have been arrested, no mastermind figures have surfaced yet. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau highlighted the level of threat currently faced by the cryptocurrency sector, prompting enhanced collaboration between law enforcement and industry professionals, as well as security checks of homes by national police and gendarmerie security officers. This ongoing investigation underscores the growing risks associated with the burgeoning crypto industry and the lengths to which criminals will go to exploit it.