A Chicago family and their nanny were kidnapped for five days in October and forced to transfer millions in cryptocurrency before being released.
Six men have been charged in connection with the crime after allegedly stealing $15 million in cryptocurrency, including Zehuan Wei, Fan Zhang, Huajing Yan, Shengnan Jiang, Shiqiang Lian, and Ye Cao, a Chicago Tribune story citing recently unsealed FBI records reported on Feb. 12.
According to the FBI, the kidnapping took place in a Chicago townhouse when one of the suspects knocked on the door, pretending to have damaged the victim’s garage door. When the victim answered, armed men forced their way inside and took the family and their nanny at gunpoint.
The victims were taken in a van to an Airbnb in Forest Park, where they were held for a night before being moved to another house. The kidnappers demanded ransom payments in Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies, threatening to kill them if they refused. The kidnappers also gained access to the victims’ crypto accounts and made transactions themselves.
One of the victims was hit on the head with a gun, though he later believed it might have been fake. He also managed to contact his father through WeChat, alerting him to the situation.
After five days in captivity, the kidnappers released the victims on Nov. 1. Of the $15 million stolen, authorities later determined that $9 million remains unaccounted for.
FBI agents pieced together evidence from surveillance footage, rental vehicles, and forensic analysis. Security cameras at the Forest Park Airbnb captured the kidnappers arriving in a white van and making phone calls. Investigators matched this footage to the suspects using U.S. Customs and Border Protection records and state-issued driver’s licenses.
At least two victims were able to identify some of the suspects in a photo lineup.
Wei was the first suspect to be apprehended. U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested him on Jan. 17 while he attempted to re-enter the country from Mexico at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California.
The FBI later determined that Jiang and Yan had boarded a flight from Tijuana, Mexico, to Beijing on Jan. 19, followed by Lian the next day. Authorities believe some of the remaining suspects fled to China after Wei’s arrest.
On Dec. 13, all six men were formally charged with kidnapping.
Recent crypto kidnappings
As cryptocurrencies become mainstream, they are also becoming prime targets for crime. Last month, David Balland, the co-founder of cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger, was kidnapped and held for ransom.
In November, Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, was abducted in Toronto and was released after a $1 million ransom was paid. According to reports, the suspects believed the victim held a significant amount of Bitcoin, which, however, was not the case.
