Three teenagers from Florida are confronted with charges of kidnapping, theft and extortion after they have reportedly abducted a man under shot and steal $ 4 million in crypto and non-boundary tokens.
According to Local mediaTwo of the suspects, both 16 years old from Pasco County, Florida, are tried as adults, with one in $ 4 million bail and the other placed under house arrest with electronic monitoring. Allegedly, a third teenager fled the country and in general.
The trio would lure the victim in an ambush in November after he returned home from organizing a crypto event in the center of Las Vegas, before he drove him more than 70 miles to a remote desert area near White Hills, Arizona.
There the victim was threatened and he told that if he didn’t work together, he would not “live to see another day.” He was also warned that his father would be killed if he resisted.
Under pressure, he handed passwords to his crypto accounts, giving the attackers access to millions of digital assets, including NFTs. After he had dropped his bills, the teenagers would have dumped him in the desert, allowing him to walk five miles to a gas station where he managed to call a friend for help.
Researchers believe that a fourth person has been involved remotely. According to police reports, the victim heard a phone call on the speaker during the test, which suggests that someone led the teenagers or communicated with them in real time.
Authorities have not yet identified this person, but suspect that they have played a key role in orchestrating the attack.
The FBI also helps local law enforcement in the investigation and a provisional hearing for the two teenagers in custody is planned for June.
The incident contributes to an increasing number of violent crimes related to digital assets, because crypto holders are increasingly becoming the target of abductors and extortion.
As treated earlier on Crypto.news, co-founder David Balland was kidnapped earlier this year from his house in France, whereby the abductors reportedly demanded a cryptocurrency-losg money. He was saved two days later in a police operation described by the authorities as ‘ultra-sensitive’.
A few months earlier, the Malaysian authorities arrested 14 people in connection with the kidnapping of two victims in Cyberjaya. The attackers received a ransom of $ 1.2 million in crypto before they released the hostages. Four suspects remain free.
By one Github -List Held by CASA co-founder Jameson Lopp, 21 offline crypto robberies have been reported so far in 2025, after 28 incidents in 2024.
