Five men have been convicted in London for the 52-hour kidnapping and torture of two French crypto millionaires. The men were subjected to beatings and had boiling water poured on them until they transferred $30,000 of a $150,000 ransom. The case is part of a rising trend of "wrench attacks" against crypto holders in Europe, with 39 such incidents recorded in the first half of 2026.
London crypto torture case
- ▪Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC suggested the victims' extravagant lifestyles, published on social media, may have attracted the criminals' attention
- ▪Five men have been convicted in London for the false imprisonment and blackmail of two French cryptocurrency millionaires
- ▪The two victims did not testify in person during the trial, citing fear of the gang
- ▪The captors demanded a ransom of $150,000, of which the victims transferred $30,000 in cryptocurrency
- ▪The two victims, both French men in their 20s, were held captive for 52 hours and tortured with methods including beatings and boiling water
Flying Squad investigation
- ▪The alleged director of the operation, Ibrahim Mohamed, also known as "Nino," reportedly sent instructions from abroad and has not been arrested
- ▪The Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad located the flat where the men were held by tracing a phone a friend of the victims had left in their car
- ▪Police pursued a car carrying some of the men at speeds up to 70 mph through residential streets until it crashed into a lamppost
- ▪Detective Chief Inspector Laura Hillier noted the case was a rare example of securing a conviction without the victims' testimony
European wrench attack trend
- ▪Since January 2026, France has recorded approximately 70 crypto-related kidnappings or extortion attempts, leading to charges against 88 people
- ▪In the first half of 2026, 39 of the 52 verified wrench attacks occurred in Europe, with 33 of those taking place in France
- ▪"Wrench attacks," or violent physical assaults on crypto holders, are increasing, with security firm CertiK verifying 52 such incidents worldwide in the first half of 2026
- ▪A number of French cases have been linked to a data breach at crypto tax platform Waltio, which exposed the data of around 50,000 users
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