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Parisian hailed as a hero for helping thwart crypto kidnapping
Parisian hailed as a hero for helping thwart crypto kidnapping

CNA

time14-05-2025

  • CNA

Parisian hailed as a hero for helping thwart crypto kidnapping

PARIS: A Parisian shop-owner who helped prevent a masked gang from kidnapping the daughter of a French crypto businessman has been hailed as a hero after he rushed at the attackers with a fire extinguisher. French prosecutors are investigating after a gang on Tuesday (May 13) attempted to kidnap a woman identified by the local press as the daughter of a crypto boss. The brazen attempted kidnapping on the streets of Paris is at least the third attack against French crypto industry players in recent months, underlining growing threats to the industry's wealthy entrepreneurs. Video widely shared on social media shows three masked men wrestling with two people on the ground, the woman and her husband, while a van waits nearby. A man can then be seen rushing towards the attackers with a fire extinguisher, before they escape into the back of a getaway van. The man then throws the extinguisher at the departing vehicle. Passersby on Wednesday cheered the man, who gave his name only as Nabil, as he spoke to Reuters outside his bicycle shop in Paris' 11th arrondissement. "You're a champion," one woman said, while another man called out to him from across the street. "Thank you very much. That's kind," Nabil replied. Nabil said he knew the couple from the neighbourhood and was full of praise for the woman's husband. He "took a lot of blows to the head and he didn't let go of his wife," Nabil said. "And so they must have thought, 'It's going to be very difficult to get her.' I think that's what made them give up, more than the fire extinguisher." Nabil said he grabbed the fire extinguisher in a panic, hoping to put an end to the attack.

French police investigating series of crypto kidnappings with executives tied up and their fingers cut off
French police investigating series of crypto kidnappings with executives tied up and their fingers cut off

Sky News

time14-05-2025

  • Sky News

French police investigating series of crypto kidnappings with executives tied up and their fingers cut off

Authorities in France are investigating a series of kidnappings linked to the world of cryptocurrencies. The most recent incident saw a businessman's daughter violently ambushed in the street in Paris. It took place on Rue Pache in the French capital's 11th arrondissement on Tuesday morning. Captured on video and shared widely online, three masked men appear from a parked van and begin wrestling a woman to the ground. After failing to snatch her amid the struggle, they retreat to the van and drive off. According to reports, the target's father is the co-founder of French cryptocurrency exchange platform Paymium. She is believed to be 34 and was with her partner at the time. Prosecutors have not confirmed the victim's identity but have launched an investigation led by the organised crime unit of the Paris police force. Authorities are now looking into whether the recent string of incidents are linked. On Wednesday, French interior minister Bruno Retailleau promised to meet figures from across the crypto sector to make them aware of the current risks and promote measures they can take to protect themselves. Company owner also targeted in Paris Tuesday's incident comes after another on 29 April, which saw a crypto marketing firm owner kidnapped and held to ransom for more than two days before being found with his finger cut off. At around 10.30am on 29 April, the 60-year-old, who co-owned his business in Malta with his son, was kidnapped by four men in ski masks as he walked down a street in Paris's 14th arrondissement. After they forced him into a van, he was eventually discovered two days later during a raid of a property in Essonne, 12 miles south of Paris. While he was being held, his attackers demanded a ransom of between £4m and £6m but failed to extort any money, newspaper Le Parisien reported. Five suspects, aged between 20 and 27, were arrested at the scene of the raid, which took place around 9pm. They remain under investigation Essonne's state prosecutor said in a statement: "The victim appears to be the father of a man who made his fortune in cryptocurrencies, with the crime involving a ransom demand." Co-founder and his wife abducted from home On 21 January, David Balland, the co-founder of crypto firm Ledger, and his wife were abducted from their home in Mereau, central France. The attack happened in the early hours of the morning, with suspects separating the couple immediately and taking Balland to a house in the nearby town of Chateauroux, where they also cut one of his fingers off. Police were alerted to the kidnapping by Mr Balland's business partner who had received a video of his severed finger with a demand for a €10m cryptocurrency payment. Detectives traced and freed him, finding his wife tied up in the boot of a vehicle in a car park in Essonne the following day. Nine people were arrested and are still under investigation. Crypto influencer's father kidnapped In December last year, the father of another French cryptocurrency influencer was targeted at his home in eastern France alongside his wife and daughter. Their attackers tied them up and forced the 56-year-old man into a car, driving him away before demanding a ransom from his son, who lives in Dubai. The son contacted police and his mother and sister were quickly freed. His father was found tied up in the boot of a car in Normandy, showing signs of having suffered physical violence and been sprayed with petrol.

Watch: Daughter of crypto boss escapes kidnappers in Paris
Watch: Daughter of crypto boss escapes kidnappers in Paris

Telegraph

time13-05-2025

  • Telegraph

Watch: Daughter of crypto boss escapes kidnappers in Paris

The daughter and grandson of a cryptocurrency chief executive have escaped abduction in Paris in a dramatic daylight struggle. A video, authenticated by a source close to the case, shows a man and a woman walking with their son on a street in the eastern 11th arrondissement at 8am on Tuesday morning. A van, apparently bearing a fake Chronopost logo, then draws up and three hooded individuals can be seen attempting to force the mother and son into the vehicle. A source said that the man with them intervened and was beaten 'with blunt objects'. The woman grabbed a handgun belonging to the attackers and threw it away. The semi-automatic pistol, which was abandoned, turned out to be an airsoft gun, the source added. The victims' screams of 'au secours' (help) eventually attracted passers-by and a resident threw a red fire extinguisher at the masked men who finally fled in the vehicle. The van was found a few hundred metres away on rue Saint-Maur. According to initial findings, the woman and her son are daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the chief executive and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange platform founded in 2011 that describes itself as a European pioneer in bitcoin trading. The three victims were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Paris judicial police's anti-crime unit has been called in to investigate the attempted abduction. Mafia attempts to extort victims for cryptocurrency It is the latest in a string of kidnap attempts by mafia gangs to extort bitcoin and other tokens from holders in France and Europe. Earlier this month, a 60-year-old Frenchman had a finger chopped off by attackers who demanded his crypto-millionaire son pay a ransom. Le Parisien reported that the attackers had demanded a ransom of €5 to 7 million (£4 to 6 million), which was not paid. The man, who has not been publicly identified, was abducted in broad daylight as he walked down a street in Paris's 14th arrondissement. Four men in ski masks forced him into a delivery van. After being held for more than two days, armed police freed him from a house south of Paris. Five suspects in their 20s were arrested at the house. In January, David Balland, the co-founder of the crypto firm Ledger, which is valued at more than $1 billion, was abducted with his partner at their home in Méreau, near Bourges in central France. He also had a finger cut off. Police were contacted by Mr Balland's business partner who received a video of the finger alongside a demand for a large ransom in cryptocurrency, of about €10 million. Mr Balland was quickly freed in a police raid and his partner found the following day. Nine suspects are under criminal investigation in that case. Other abductions of cryptocurrency figures or their partners were reported in Spain and Belgium in recent months.

Terrifying moment crypto CEO's daughter, 34, & her child, 2, attacked by knife-wielding kidnap gang on streets of Paris
Terrifying moment crypto CEO's daughter, 34, & her child, 2, attacked by knife-wielding kidnap gang on streets of Paris

The Sun

time13-05-2025

  • The Sun

Terrifying moment crypto CEO's daughter, 34, & her child, 2, attacked by knife-wielding kidnap gang on streets of Paris

THIS IS the jaw-dropping moment when relatives of a crypto tycoon escaped a terrifying kidnapping attempt right in the heart of Paris. Armed assailants are being hunted in the French capital following the shocking incident on Tuesday morning. 4 4 4 4 Footage released since the shocking attack shows three masked men trying to force a mother into a white Chronopost van in broad daylight. The attackers can be seen struggling to pull the victim into the van, but to little avail. The violent struggle took place on Rue Pache in the 11th Arrondissement. But the woman owes her safety thanks to the intervention of the child's father, Le Parisien reported. He completely covered her, taking hits and punches - as well as what looks like a stab to his upper back. The man intervened to try and stop the attackers - who quickly dash back into the van and flee the scene after a few tense moments. A man can be seen hurling what looks like a fire extinguisher at the van as it leaves. However, other passersby were reportedly afraid to intervene despite the screams of the victim. The 34-year-old unnamed victim was accompanied by her two-year-old child at the time of the attack, police say. French riot police 'tear gas entire streets' as fans 'throw fireworks' in chaotic scenes before PSG vs Arsenal It is not clear how the infant escaped being kidnapped. The mother is the daughter of cryptocurrency CEO, according to Le Parisien reports. The shocking daylight attack was over in a matter of moments, as the assailants left the van open and ready to escape quickly. After the vehicle drives away, a few bystanders can be seen appearing to check in on the victim's welfare. One of the attackers reportedly lost a handgun in the attack, although it is unclear whether the firearm was real. After the attackers fled the scene, the van was found on a street in the same borough. The paper added that the Paris prosecutor's office has called on the anti-banditry brigade to conduct the investigation.

Gang tries to kidnap crypto tycoon's daughter in central Paris
Gang tries to kidnap crypto tycoon's daughter in central Paris

Times

time13-05-2025

  • Times

Gang tries to kidnap crypto tycoon's daughter in central Paris

Armed men are being hunted in Paris after a failed attempt to kidnap the daughter of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and her two-year-old in the heart of the French capital. Video shot from nearby buildings and the street showed a violent struggle after three masked men descended from a delivery van in the Rue Pache in the 11th Arrondissement and grabbed the woman and her child. The child's father intervened and fought the would-be kidnappers until they gave up and jumped into the back of the van, which drove away. It was later found abandoned in a nearby street. Police told the newspaper Le Parisien that the woman is the daughter of the head of a cryptocurrency platform. There was no word on her condition or

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