Crypto chief's daughter and her husband fight off three men trying to kidnap her in Paris

Daily Mail​

14-05-2025

The daughter of a cryptocurrency company executive and her two-year-old child were the victims of a violent attempted kidnapping in Paris, France.
The 34-year-old was walking down Rue Pache in the French capital on Monday when three armed men approached her.
The group tried to force her and her toddler into a white van after hitting the child's father, who tried to intervene.
Footage filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window also shows the woman - believed to be the daughter of a top crypto exec - grab a handgun belonging to the attackers before throwing it away.
In the footage, as he is being beaten, the father appears to be yelling: 'Help! She's pregnant!'
The victims' screams eventually attracted attention, which led to the attackers fleeing in their van.
Passers-by can be seen arriving on the scene ready to assist, with one desperately throwing a fire extinguisher at the van.
The vehicle was later abandoned on a nearby street, according to Le Parisien. The outlet also said the child, who did not appear in the video, had tear gas in his eyes.
One witness, 61-year-old Jean-Jacques, said: 'I heard screaming so I went outside.
'I saw hooded and armed men running away and I turned my head and saw a man with a bloody head, he was lying on the ground. There was blood everywhere.
'I cauterized the wound.'
Jean-Jacques, who is in his 60s, said he treated the mother and child for teargas in their eyes, cleaning them with saline solution.
Others joined in the rescue, before the kidnappers fled, leaving a fake gun lying on the ground.
One man grabbed a fire extinguisher to try to scare the kidnappers away. They then abandoned their stolen vehicle a few streets away.
Another witness, a local worker, suggested the public response helped drive off the attackers, adding: 'There were lots of people at the windows. Some filmed the scene. Many were yelling [to] call the police.'
The Paris Judicial Police's Anti-Banditism Brigade (BRB), who declined to name the daughter of the cryptocurrency CEO or her father, is now investigating the attempted kidnapping.
'They arrived in a Chronopost van and attempted to take the mother away from her child,' said an investigating source, referring to the postal delivery firm.
'Her partner managed to fight the three kidnappers off,' the source added,
The armed assailants are being hunted, but police have not yet revealed any details behind their motives.
However, the incident follows another cryptocurrency related kidnapping in the capital just days earlier.
On May 1, the father of a crypto entrepreneur spent more than 48 hours in a Paris building after being taken captive.
During the incident, the victim was injured and a ransom demand for several million was made, according to French media.
His finger was cut off, with his captors filming the horrific act to send to his son.
Eventually, police smashed down the door and used non-lethal grenades to apprehend the kidnappers.
Five people have now been arrested and taken into custody.
Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, wrote at the time: 'A huge congratulations to the investigators who did an exceptional job freeing this man and arresting his captors.'
A police source said the victim's wife told investigators that her husband and son, who owned a crypto marketing firm in Malta, had received threats in the past.
In January, David Balland, a co-founder of French crypto firm Ledger, had his hand mutilated while he and his wife were kidnapped and held captive for several hours.
The couple were found a day later after being tortured by the kidnappers, who demanded a $11million ransom.
And last December, the 56-year-old father of a French cryptocurrency influencer based in Dubai was the target of an alleged kidnapping in eastern France, local media reported.
Attackers arrived at the man's home, tied up his wife and daughter and forced him into a car.
He was only discovered 24 hours later, tied up in the boot of a car in Normandy, France.
Cryptocurrency holders in other nations have also been targeted by opportunistic criminals.
Last November, three teenagers lured a man in Las Vegas after a crypto event he hosted and abducted him at gunpoint at his home before forcing him into a car and driving him into the desert.
They gained access to his crypto wallets and drained $4million worth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In Canada in 2022, self-proclaimed 'Crypto-King' Aiden Pleterski was kidnapped in downtown Toronto by victims of his alleged Ponzi scheme.