A brutal daylight abduction targeting a crypto millionaire’s father in Paris escalated into savage violence, with kidnappers severing his finger while demanding millions in ransom.
Vanished in Broad Daylight: Inside the Ruthless Paris Kidnapping That Shook Crypto Circles
French law enforcement rescued a man on Saturday night in Essonne, a suburb south of Paris, after he was abducted in an alleged extortion plot aimed at pressuring his son, a known cryptocurrency millionaire, to pay a multimillion-euro ransom.
The operation was confirmed in a statement from the Paris prosecutors’ office, which said the father had been taken mid-morning Thursday from Paris’ 14th arrondissement. According to a police source who spoke anonymously to Agence France-Presse (AFP), four masked assailants forced the man into a delivery van. Authorities arrested five suspects in their 20s, including one caught while driving a vehicle believed to have been used in the kidnapping.
The crime appears to be financially motivated, targeting the victim’s son who, along with his father, owns a cryptocurrency marketing firm registered in Malta, as reported by a police source. The kidnappers had reportedly demanded between €5 million and €7 million ($5.7 million to $7.9 million), according to Le Parisien. The prosecutors’ office noted that one of the victim’s fingers had been severed, and a source close to the investigation said police acted urgently to avoid further mutilation.
The incident resembles other recent attacks on individuals with crypto-related ties. In January, David Balland, co-founder of Ledger—a French cryptocurrency company valued at over $1 billion—was abducted with his wife. Balland’s finger was also cut off, and his wife was later found bound in a car trunk in Essonne. That case led to the indictment of nine suspects, including a 26-year-old man previously arrested for kidnapping. Similarly, earlier that month, a 56-year-old father of a Dubai-based crypto influencer was discovered in a car boot near Mans, also linked to ransom demands. These cases highlight growing concerns in France about the vulnerability of crypto-affiliated individuals to violent crimes.
Source: Bitcoin
