Investigators returned the cryptocurrency for 33 million rubles to a resident of Kaliningrad, who had previously been kidnapped because of it. According to the Investigative Committee, two defendants in the case, aged 29 and 39, pleaded guilty, and the materials of the investigation were submitted to the court.
In the fall of 2021, a resident of Kaliningrad contacted the police. He said that he was kidnapped, his money and property were stolen from him, and they also tried to kill him.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was possible to detain two suspects in a few days. During the investigation, it turned out that two men, having learned about the presence of a large amount of cryptocurrency in the victim, followed him, then kidnapped him and threatened him to give out passwords from crypto wallets.
According to the IC, after receiving the money, the attackers were afraid that the victim would write a statement to law enforcement agencies, and tried to kill him. However, the man survived and went to the police.
Ekaterina Medvedeva, correspondent of the Internet portal “New Kaliningrad”, told Business FM the details:
“Judging by what the victim himself said, he was familiar with one of the kidnappers, so when he got out of the forest and was able to get through to law enforcement agencies, he immediately gave the name of the person, which is why they managed to detain the kidnappers so quickly. It was resonant, perhaps, in some circles, it was probably not even in the vein that someone was kidnapped, because we have such cases and the courts decide on cases of kidnappings committed for ransom or extortion. Probably, everyone was just interested in the details of how the Kaliningrader managed to earn a large amount of money using cryptocurrencies. He himself actively wrote about himself in social networks the details of this crime, told in vivid colors what he expected, how he was afraid that he would be killed, so those who became interested in this story could hear all the colorful descriptions from the source. The investigation does not reveal to us the details of how it was possible to return part of the stolen property to the victim.”
According to the UK, the investigation managed to return most of the stolen money – 33 million out of almost 40 million rubles in cryptocurrency.
