Daughter, grandson of crypto boss escape abduction in Paris
PARIS: The daughter and grandson of a French cryptocurrency entrepreneur narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt by armed men in Paris on Tuesday (May 13) in the latest attack on a crypto trader in the French capital, police said.
Four masked men attacked a couple and their child in the French capital's 11th district, police sources told AFP. All three suffered light injuries and were taken to hospital.
According to video footage, three masked men jumped out of a van and tried to force the woman and her child into the vehicle, the sources said. They beat the woman's partner, who tried to intervene.
The woman resisted, grabbing one of the attackers' handguns and throwing it away, police said, and the screams of the victims eventually attracted passers-by.
The attackers fled in a van, which was found close by.
The woman is the daughter of the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Tuesday's events follow the abduction in January of a French crypto boss, David Balland and his partner.
Balland, co-founder of the Ledger crypto firm, had his finger cut off by the kidnappers.
At least nine suspects have since been detained, including the alleged mastermind.
In May, attackers kidnapped a man to force his crypto-millionaire son to pay a ransom. Police arrested seven people after a raid to free the man.
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