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I hope you are all well and having an excellent week, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. A big story emerged in Spain recently where a Crypto Portfolio Manager was kidnapped and taken at gunpoint in an attempt to steal from him, with the Spanish Police eventually managing to rescue him.
Kidnapping and Ransom
A fund manager was recently kidnapped and held with a gun to his head by three assailants who demanded a ransom worth around $1.1 million for his life. The man in question is a Syrian national who was on holidays in Malaga, Spain, and generally resides in Hungary. He is the owner of a company in Dubai which manages cryptocurrencies and apparently had been spending time with his assailants prior to their kidnapping of him.
Having arrived in the Costa del Sol alone for his vacation, he contacted a friend in Dubai to ask if he knew of anybody to show him around the area. The friend in question recommended an Albanian whom he had been partying with for several days. After spending a few days partying with the Albanian, the fund manager agreed to meet with him and his friends at a luxury villa in Benalmadena, which is where the kidnapping ordeal began.
The suspects are the Albanian and there are also Greeks involved, with all said to be aged 35, 36, and 54, also it has been noted they were found with false passports and had a history of committing crimes, with one having a record for crimes of robbery with force in another area of ??the country.
When the Syrian arrived, he was greeted by a man in a PPE suit, which according to his statement to the police afterwards, had made him suspicious. Once inside, they tied him up, put a gun to his head and told him that the only way they would release him was if a fee of over a million euro was paid.
A friend of the Syrian, an acquaintance in Hungary, received both audio and video proof of the manager being held at gunpoint, as per the image below.
The kidnappers allowed the Syrian man to make use of one of their phones to to access the applications he uses as a cryptocurrency manager, and this is where their downfall began. He managed to take a photo through the window where he was being held and sent it to his friend in Budapest, with his friend in Budapest the one who was supposed to pay the ransom fee.
The friend in Hungary then forwarded everything he had to a mutual friend of his and the Syrian, a man who lived in Torremolinos, Spain. This man in Torremolinos rushed to the local authorities and gave them all of the information, and an investigation began in a race against the clock to save the Syrian man.
The National Police negotiator at the Malaga police station gave instructions to the man in Budapest on how to proceed, ensuring that the kidnappers believed they would be receiving the ransom fee. Meanwhile, local police agents located the building where the man was being held and were able to get a court order to go in an rescue him.
At around six o'clock in the evening the police, along with the GOES, UDYCO Costa del Sol, UPR, and the police negotiator in a group of about 50 overall, burst into the luxury villa located in Benalmadena that the kidnappers had rented for two days. Unaware until the final moment, the kidnappers had been under the impression they were about to get over a million euro, but instead they got arrested and taken away.
When the police did break in, they discovered a litany of weapons, including plastics, disposable gloves, garden tools, shears, and saws. They also had two firearms, one of which was fitted with a silencer.
What would have really happened to the fund manager once the ransom had been paid is anybody's guess, but likely considering the weapons and fact these men were dressed in protective gear, he would have been killed and disposed of in multiple pieces. Horrific to consider.
In the tweet below you can see the report on the crime, along with a video of the police breaking into the villa and what they discovered inside.
It turns out this fund manager was a very lucky man, and his quick thinking in taking the photo of the surrounding area and sending it to his friend is what managed to save his life. The fast response of the police was vital, as had they taken any longer this story may have had a very different ending.
Have a great day.
CryptoGod-1.
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