- Florida teens kidnap a cryptocurrency investor, steal $4 million.
- The victim reported the suspects followed instructions from an unseen speakerphone caller, hinting at a fourth accomplice directing the crime.
- Case highlights the growing global pattern of kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency holders, including high-profile industry figures.
Three teens have been charged with kidnapping a man at gunpoint outside his Las Vegas home. They took $4 million in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens from him and left him stranded in the Arizona desert, according to a local news report.
From Crypto Event to Kidnapping: Victim Attacked Upon Arrival at Home
The incident happened last November after the victim left a crypto conference in downtown Las Vegas. Three teenagers ambushed the man with a gun after he parked his car at his apartment complex.
Authorities later recognized two of the teens as Belal Ashraf and Austin Fletcher, while they couldn’t name the third suspect. According to the victim, the trio pushed him into the back of the vehicle, threw a towel over his head, and instructed him to avoid any eye contact with them.
They added that they would murder him and his dad if he didn’t do exactly as they instructed him. Then, the captors asked the man to reveal the passwords to his crypto accounts, which he complied. The man also told investigators that someone was giving the teens instructions as their phone was on speaker mode.
Then, the suspects dumped the man in the desert and fled after withdrawing about $4 million worth of cryptocurrency and NFTs from his accounts.
Bail Set for Suspects Amid Rising Cryptocurrency-Targeted Abductions
Investigators traced a vehicle suspected to belong to the teens traveling from Florida to Nevada and made stops at multiple locations, including the victim’s residence.
In addition, Mississippi police recovered a weapon registered to one of the teens’ family members, as it matched the one he shared in an online post.
The authorities have charged Ashraf and Fletcher (aged 16 years old each) with kidnapping, extortion, and robbery. The law enforcement agency claimed that the unidentified suspect is no longer in the U.S.
Judge Daniel Westmeyer of the Las Vegas Justice Court set bail for Fletcher at $4 million. However, he ruled for the release of Ashraf but added that he should be placed under electronic monitoring.
Recently, there has been a rising number of kidnap cases targeting participants in the cryptocurrency industry in and outside the U.S. Two months ago, Le Parisien reported that Ledger co-founder David Balland was the victim of a kidnapping incident.
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