Foreign National Murdered in Kyiv Over Bitcoin

The Kyiv police are investigating the kidnapping and murder of a foreign national aimed at seizing his cryptocurrency worth approximately 7 million hryvnias (over $170,000).

According to the case materials, four perpetrators abducted a 29-year-old man from his home in the Solomianskyi district of the capital and took him to an abandoned building in the region.

There, they forced the foreigner to transfer bitcoins to their crypto wallet, after which they strangled him. The accomplices then changed the vehicle’s license plates, transported the body to a forest, and buried it, while cashing out the stolen assets.

The investigation established that the crime was meticulously planned, with the large sum in bitcoins being the motive.

All suspects have been detained, with money, a car, and other physical evidence seized from them.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated on charges of robbery, unlawful imprisonment, premeditated murder, and concealment of a crime.

The suspects have been arrested without the possibility of bail and face life imprisonment.

In April, a court in Phuket (Thailand) sentenced five Russians to prison terms for kidnapping a Belarusian couple to extort 31 million baht (about $845,700) in cryptocurrency.