A $15 Billion Hermès Mystery. A Sudden Death. And, Finally, Some Answers.
A financial adviser to Europe's elite for decades, Freymond was under mounting pressure. He was accused of playing a role in the mysterious disappearance of a massive fortune belonging to an Hermès heir, and earlier in the month he sat for lengthy interviews with French authorities investigating the matter. Other clients had also accused him of improprieties. He had denied any wrongdoing.
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Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Wall Street Journal
A $15 Billion Hermès Mystery. A Sudden Death. And, Finally, Some Answers.
On the morning of July 23, Eric Freymond stepped out of his chalet in the hills above Saanen, a discreet alpine village near Gstaad. The Swiss sky was overcast, the air cool. A financial adviser to Europe's elite for decades, Freymond was under mounting pressure. He was accused of playing a role in the mysterious disappearance of a massive fortune belonging to an Hermès heir, and earlier in the month he sat for lengthy interviews with French authorities investigating the matter. Other clients had also accused him of improprieties. He had denied any wrongdoing.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Man charged in Switzerland over alleged multi-million cybercrime in Scotland
A man who allegedly hacked computers in Scotland and elsewhere to extort various companies has been charged in Switzerland. A 51-year-old has been indicted for alleged cybercrime for a total of 10 ransomware attacks between December 2018 and May 2020. Such attacks see hackers access data, encrypt it, and demand a ransom to decrypt it again. The man, a Ukrainian living in Switzerland, is alleged to have been part of an international criminal ring which attacked companies in Switzerland, France, Norway, Scotland, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. Read More: Men jailed after operating massive cannabis farm in disused shopping centre Workplace pervert avoids jail for posting suggestive pictures of female colleagues Predator who abused three girls over 50 year period faces lengthy jail-term Some of the companies paid a ransom in Bitcoin to retrieve their data, with the largest single amount being 41 million Swiss Francs (£38m). The total damage caused is believed to be around 130m Francs (£121m), with a total of 12 people arrested in connection. The man has been indicted by the Zurich public prosecutor's office and will be tried for extortion, various computer crimes, money laundering, pornography and other crimes. Prosecutors are asking for a 12-year sentence and for him to expelled from Switzerland. The date of the trial before the Zurich District Court has not yet been set.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Recovered from Lake Lugano After Vandalism
Municipal workers in Lugano, Switzerland, retrieved the pieces of the city's famous Satoshi Nakamoto statue from Lake Lugano on Monday after Bitcoin's most recognizable public monument was stolen and vandalized over the weekend. The optical illusion artwork, which appears to fade into digital code when viewed from certain angles, was discovered on Monday, broken into several pieces both in the lake and along its banks. The statue had been ripped from its mounting points in Parco Ciani, a popular lakefront park, by unknown vandals who then threw the remnants into the water. Created by Italian artist and Bitcoin advocate Valentina Picozzi, the statue has become a symbol of Bitcoin's decentralized philosophy and the mystery surrounding its pseudonymous creator. Picozzi, who has been working as an activist artist since discovering Bitcoin in 2012, operates under Satoshigallery, a copyrighted artistic project aimed at 'connecting people to Bitcoin culture through art and iconography.' The theft was first reported Saturday by social media users who noticed the empty base where the faceless figure once sat. Satoshigallery immediately offered a reward of 0.1 BTC, worth over $11,000, for information leading to the statue's recovery. "You can steal our symbol, but you will never be able to steal our souls," Satoshigallery said in their response to the vandalism, declaring their commitment to install similar statues in 21 locations worldwide. Some observers, including pseudonymous Bitcoin advocate Gritto, theorized that intoxicated revelers celebrating Swiss National Day may have been responsible for the destruction. A petition urges city officials to restore the statue, with organizers pledging to cover the costs. The statue, crafted from 304 stainless steel and corten blocks, was unveiled in October 2024 during the Plan B Forum, a blockchain conference co-hosted by Lugano and stablecoin issuer Tether. The artwork took 21 months to plan and construct, according to Picozzi. The Lugano installation is part of a growing global movement to create physical tributes to Bitcoin and its mysterious founder. Bitcoin IRL: Here Are All the Real-Life Tributes to Satoshi Nakamoto's Invention Other notable monuments include a mirrored-face bust in Budapest's Graphisoft Park, where viewers see themselves reflected as Satoshi; a giant inflatable "Bitcoin rat" placed outside the Federal Reserve in New York City in 2018; and the world's first Bitcoin monument, erected in Slovenia in 2018. Satoshigallery's third statue was unveiled in Tokyo in April. With an estimated 1.096 million BTC holdings worth over $125 billion at current prices, Bitcoin's anonymous creator ranks among the world's wealthiest individuals, though those coins have never moved from their original wallets, adding to the enduring mystery.
