Australian crypto king bit off part of attacker's finger during botched kidnapping, court told
Heath, 47, was ambushed in the stairwell of his apartment in Tallinn's Old Town on the night of July 29 last year. The assault was part of an alleged plot by an organised group to abduct the entrepreneur and extort cryptocurrency.
The Tallinn-based Eesti Ekspress reported that one of the men, 49-year-old Azerbaijani national Allahverdi Allahverdiyev, allegedly placed his hand over Heath's mouth to silence him during the attack. Heath responded by biting through his index finger. The court heard that DNA evidence later confirmed part of the bloodied severed finger was found on the street near St Nicholas Church, about 100 metres from the scene.
Heath also lost a tooth in the attack but managed to resist long enough to prevent the group from forcing him into a waiting van.
Allahverdiyev, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and boxer, told the court he was promised €100,000 ($180,000) to carry out the kidnapping. He admitted to being part of the attack but claimed he had second thoughts once it began, the paper reported.
'I did it,' he said in court. 'I pretended to do something. It lasted about 30 seconds.' He also testified that he told the others to abort the plan, shouting: 'Let's go! Let's leave!'
Kidnappings and physical attacks targeting cryptocurrency industry figures have surged in the past 18 months. At least 231 reported incidents have involved digital asset holders and nearly one-third of those have occurred since the beginning of last year, according to industry experts.
Eesti Ekspress reported that since the attempted abduction, Heath has spent more than €2.7 million on private security, changed homes and rarely appears in public without protection. His legal team is seeking restitution of those costs from the accused, despite the low likelihood of recovery.
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