Twenty-five people, including six minors, have been arrested in recent days in France on charges of participating in kidnapping attempts against figures related to the cryptocurrency market. The investigation has focused especially on the failed attempt on May 13th, in broad daylight in the center of Paris, involving the daughter and grandson of the director of the firm Paymium, Pierre Noizat.
The images of the assault carried out by three masked individuals, captured by a witness with their mobile phone, went viral on social media. Noizat publicly thanked the "heroic" actions of his son-in-law and a passerby who used a fire extinguisher to subdue the assailants. The police have accused a gang of around twenty members, of Russian, Angolan, and Senegalese nationality, of this tragic incident.
The wave of incidents began in January with the kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of the cryptocurrency firm Ledger. The kidnappers cut off one of Balland's fingers and demanded a million-dollar ransom. Balland was released the next day, and his girlfriend was found tied up in the trunk of a car.