The founder of a French cryptocurrency company and his wife were released this week after being brutally kidnapped and held for ransom in France.
David Balland, founder Ledgera company that sells physical devices for storage crypto assetsAccording to the Paris prosecutor, he and his wife were abducted from their home in the central French city of Vierzon early on Tuesday morning. The prosecutor said that the couple was dragged by car, then separated and detained in different places.
The kidnapping sparked a massive investigation involving more than 230 officers trying to locate the couple. They eventually freed them without firing a shot, authorities said at a press conference in Paris on Thursday evening.
“It was a very complicated job,” said General Ghislain Réty, head of the elite unit specializing in rescuing hostages that freed the pair.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the kidnappers contacted another Ledger founder and demanded a large ransom payment using cryptocurrency. He said investigators are still determining how much they are asking for in total.
The company has alerted the gendarmerie and police forces in small towns, rural and suburban areas of France. French news agencies, caught wind of the investigation, have been urged to refrain from publishing any details to avoid jeopardizing the couple's safety.
Gendarmes quickly located Mr. Balland in Chateauroux, about 30 miles southwest of his home, and freed him on Wednesday. According to Ms. Bekkuu, she was hospitalized because of a “mutilation” on her hand by her abductors.
An official with knowledge of the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case, said the kidnapper sent a photo of Mr. Balland's severed finger to pressure the company.
Part of the ransom was paid during negotiations with the kidnappers, Ms. Bekkuau said. “Almost all of this cryptocurrency has been tracked, frozen and seized,” he said.
On Thursday, using the surveillance of some of the suspects, analyzing phone records and questioning several people already arrested, investigators found Mr. Balland's wife in Étampes, about 80 miles north of Vierzon.
Officers found him bound in the car but otherwise unharmed, Ms Bekkuau said.
In total, nine men and one woman, aged between 20 and 40, have been detained for questioning in connection with the kidnapping, Ms Beccuau said. He did not identify them or give details about their involvement, saying only that they were from different cities and had criminal records. He said they were not known to police as part of organized crime.
Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier wrote on social media He was “deeply relieved” on Thursday.
“Our top priority has always been to allow law enforcement to do their job and protect the integrity of the investigation,” Mr. Gauthier said. “We have respected law enforcement's requests to protect critical details of an ongoing investigation and appreciate members of the media doing the same.”
Ledger, a popular startup valued at over $1 billion, was founded in 2014 and has since sold over 6 million units. The company says it has more than 700 employees in Europe, Asia and the United States.
Eric Larchevêque, another founder of the company and a well-known TV personality who appeared on the jury. France's “Shark Tank“, expressed “great relief and deep joy”. on social media after the release of Mr. Balland and his wife.
Prosecutors are investigating charges of kidnapping and holding someone against their will as part of an organized gang to get something in return; acts of torture; and armed robbery. Those crimes carry life sentences, Ms. Bekkuau said.
The case echoed with a similar incident This was reported by the French press This month, a group of people and his family were held hostage in Dubai trying to blackmail his son, a cryptocurrency influencer. They were released, but no arrests have been made in the case. according to the news.
At this stage, investigators have not established any link between the two cases, Ms Bekkuau said.