Man kidnapped in London with $9 in his account because he called himself a crypto millionaire

Prince or beggar? A resident of Belgium has become a victim of kidnapping as he was actively pretending to be a crypto millionaire. All the details came to light only after the criminals saw the man’s account with only $9. In fact, the situation could have ended much worse if the victim had not been believed.

A London court convicted four people for kidnapping a Belgian barber. The criminals lured him to London with promises of luxury. The victim actively boasted that he had a bunch of bitcoins. But when the attackers demanded access to the funds, it turned out that the crypto wallet had a little more than $9. The stunned kidnappers lowered their demand to $67,000, and then lowered their bar to $2,700, which they took from his bank account.

Quentin Czepieliak was kidnapped in May 2023. He was held overnight and later released because he was poor as a church mouse.

One of the participants, Davina Rijemakers, had become friends with Chepelyak on social media a few weeks earlier. After he claimed to be a successful crypto trader, she invited him to London and offered him a luxury apartment. Instead, she led him to a small apartment where three men were already waiting, including Ryemakers’ boyfriend.

They put a machete to Chepeljak’s neck and a knife to his leg, and demanded access to his crypto wallet. After the criminals realized that the victim did not have significant crypto assets, they were satisfied with a transfer from a bank account and let the unfortunate man go.

This case again reminded us of the trend of the last couple of years, when cryptocurrencies are being taken away not by hacking, but by using physical force. For example, in the United States, a crime was solved with kidnapping and torture of an Italian cryptocurrency millionaire.

Source: The Times