Credited from: NPR
French police successfully rescued the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur during a dramatic nighttime raid. The victim was taken hostage in Paris on Thursday morning as part of a ransom scheme aimed at extorting money from his son. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the incident, stating that the victim was abducted by multiple assailants in broad daylight, who forcibly placed him into a delivery van, according to Le Monde and South China Morning Post.
The rescue operation took place after investigators traced the victim to a house in the Essonne region, south of Paris. Authorities reported that he had been treated for injuries, with French media indicating that his kidnappers had mutilated him by cutting off one of his fingers. The ransom demanded by the kidnappers ranged between €5 million and €7 million, as detailed by various reports including BBC and India Times.
Five suspects were arrested; four were apprehended at the location of the abduction, while a fifth was caught driving a vehicle linked to the crime. These individuals are facing serious charges, including kidnapping with torture. This incident adds to a concerning trend of violence connected to the cryptocurrency sector in France, echoing a previous high-profile case in January when David Balland, a co-founder of the crypto-firm Ledger, was kidnapped, according to NPR and HuffPost.