French authorities have accused 25 people, including six minors, of their roles in a series of crypto nappings in Paris, for most of the suspects associated with the recent failed kidnapping attempt by a Crypto Exchange CEO’s family, Paris’s prosecutor Le Monde reported on Saturday.
The study is focused on the kidnapping trial from daughter and grandson of CEO of Crypto Exchange Paymium, Pierre Noizat, who took place on May 13, the report said.
The probe also looked at other unsuccessful kidnapping attempts, including a previous attempt at Noizat’s family members, plus an attempted abduction near the western city of Nante’s last Monday, which the authorities prevented.
The arrests are following a number of high -profile crypto nappings that have plagued France this year.
In May, the father of a French crypto millionaire was kidnapped, BBC reported. At the beginning of the year, David Ballard, a co-founder of the Crypto-Wallet Developer Ledger Ledger Kidnapped with his wife. Both men had a finger cut off, with videos of pendants used to extract a ransom.
After the recent kidnapping, France’s Minister of Inner Bruno Retailleau hosted a meeting with crypto stakeholders in May to discuss measures to keep them safe.
The suspects involved in the case on May 13 were between 16 and 23 years; Six of them were minors, says Le Monde report. They were mostly born in France, while three people were from Senegal, Angola and Russia, cited the report prosecutors.
This case is characterized by “very young profiles, lured by money and then trapped in a situation that is outside them,” observed lawyer Ambroise Vienet-Legué, who defends an 18-year-old suspect in the Nantes part of the case, the report said.
A source familiar with the investigation told Coindesk that the suspects are assumed to be locally employed muscle paid by a criminal operation in Southeast Asia to perform the kidnappers for as little as $ 10,000.
Eighteen people are in detention of prior trial, three have requested a deferred hearing, while four are under legal supervision, the public prosecutor said.
Although France has been episent to crypto nappings, similar crimes are on the way across the globe, including recent more cases in the US
Coindesk reached out to Paris’s prosecution office for a comment.
Read more: Suspects in Manhattan Crypto Kidnapping, Torture Case does not ask when the investigation is extended
