Cryptocurrency scams and frauds have always been prevalent since the inception of the industry, and the story continues to unfold more than a decade later. Recent reports have also reported that the most common type of bitcoin scams have been ransomware attacks or a straight ransom exchange.
In a recent turn of events, YouTuber were in deep trouble when he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for kidnapping that he had committed two years ago.
German Abraham Loera Acosta was charged with multiple charges following the kidnapping of a woman in Chihuahua, Mexico, in February 2018. He was one of the six people who had been charged with kidnapping a 33-year-old lawyer during the fated night. The acts of Acosta have shown that he has been planning the seize for a long time.
The culprit first rented the house where the victim was held in captivity after the abduction, and the documents revealed that he was preparing to leave it once the exchange had been completed. Acosta held the lawyer captive for two days and demanded 2 million pesos in Bitcoin for her release. This demand amounted to $103,000, an amount that was still more than the YouTuber’s earnings.
The Chihuahua police announced that four more members of the group had been captured in the same operation and that they were all trying to escape. The police have taken drastic steps to prevent the recurrence of such crimes by enforcing strict laws to monitor the illicit movement of capital.
In addition to the long prison sentence, the group will also have to pay a fine of $25,730 to the police. Cesar Peniche, Chihuahua District Attorney, said the kidnapping dynamics had a lot to do with the use of networks, and that’s what helped investigators to track down the perpetrators. Peniche also admitted that Loera Acosta was a very experienced person in internet communication.
Acosta completely committed the crime and even went out of his way to ensure that the kidnapping went smoothly. He carried out his action plan in the midst of a number of odd jobs, having previously been an influencer and director of the marketing and design business. Acosta was in charge of marketing and business posts with his YouTube account bearing corny taglines.
What is ironic about this case was the fact that Acosta used to push out content that was revolved around hard work and dedication. It came as sore news to several of his followers who looked up to him as a role model and a path breaker. He was once quoted as saying:
“You are not the future, you are the present, live and act like it, we are going to make this country and this world into something special.”
Officials involved in the case believed that Bitcoin had been used in dealings because of its decentralized nature. Both funds have been frozen and will only be released after due process has taken place. Sources said that such crackdowns have become commonplace and that cryptocurrencies need to be monitored.
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