British Cryptocurrency Extortion Gang Sentenced to 76 Years in Prison

Seven members of a British gang who kidnapped, tortured, and extorted cryptocurrency from an investor have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 20 years. This was reported by the Warrington Guardian.

The victim was repeatedly attacked and over several months transferred £100,000 in digital assets to the criminals.

The investor was first attacked in January 2023 at his home, where he was threatened with violence and forced to hand over part of the sum. In the same month, the extortionists returned, taking even more funds.

In October, the man was taken to a location in the suburbs of Warrington, unlawfully detained to extract another payment. Just days later, he was kidnapped again, with threats of murder.

The final incident occurred in November when the criminals detained the investor at the same address in Cadishead. Neighbours, suspecting illegal activity, called the police.

Upon arrival, law enforcement found the victim with signs of torture, as well as evidence including weapons, means of physical coercion, documents, and personal belongings of the kidnappers. Analysis of phone records showed that the criminals were in active contact with each other since their first visit to the investor.

The court sentenced the most active gang members, Nunes and Povey, to 20 years each. The others received lesser sentences ranging from 13.5 years to less than three. In total, the sentences for the seven amounted to 76 years.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao took note of this criminal case. The entrepreneur criticized journalists for misleading headlines but acknowledged the severity of the crime and advised investors to stay safe.

Kinda wish the journalists could do better with these titles. The maximum sentence for any one person was 20 years. 7 gang members added up to 76 years in total.

The robbery/kidnap/torture happened over multiple months in UK.

Stay SAFU! ?https://t.co/aIpijkCJML

— CZ ? BNB (@cz_binance) January 31, 2025

Russians in Indonesia Steal Cryptocurrency from Ukrainian

Bali police are investigating the abduction and robbery of a Ukrainian citizen by a gang of nine Russians. The suspects allegedly stole $214,429 in cryptocurrency from his account, reports the Jakarta Globe.

On January 15, Igor Ermakov and his driver were traveling in a BMW when they were ambushed. The car was blocked, and four masked armed men took the victim to a villa in the Bandung district.

There, the Ukrainian was deprived of his mobile phone, beaten, and forced to transfer digital currencies to two specified addresses.

Back in November, Ukrainian citizen Vyacheslav Leibov was the victim of an armed attack on the island of Phuket in Thailand. The attackers demanded 500,000 USDT from him but settled for half that amount.