Russian Programmer Kidnapped After Flaunting Wealth, Loses 10.4 BTC

November 03 - According to Kommersant, police in Ivanovo, Russia, have detained five men suspected of kidnapping, robbery, and cryptocurrency theft. The suspects identified a programmer in his 20s through luxury cars and overseas travel photos on social media, abducting him on September 6 and taking him to a garage where they used violence and threats. They seized 1 million rubles in cash, an iPhone, and a MacBook, and transferred approximately 10.4 BTC from his crypto wallet to unidentified addresses, with total losses exceeding 84 million rubles. After the incident, the victim was abandoned in a forest.

Police stated that local network outages caused by drone attacks forced the suspects to use regular phone lines, allowing authorities to intercept calls and arrest them. All five have prior felony convictions, and part of the stolen funds was used to purchase property and cars. They face up to 15 years in prison.

[TechFlow]