Father and son ordered the kidnapping of a relative in Ukraine for $500,000 in crypto assets

The National Police of Ukraine has uncovered a criminal conspiracy organized by a father and son who are in Croatia. They decided to kidnap the youngest son in the family’ to force relatives to hand over access to a cryptocurrency wallet with $500,000.

To do this, the suspects decided to hire executors from among the residents of Zaporizhzhia. However, law enforcement officers learned about the preparation of the crime, who contacted the organizers of the scheme undercover.

The criminals instructed the kidnappers to torture the victim in order to obtain a flash drive with digital assets. The National Police officers monitored the situation and staged the kidnapping.

After that, the organizers were sent staged photos with a bloodied «victim». As soon as the father received the photos, he contacted his ex-wife and offered her to hand over the flash drive with the crypto wallet in exchange for «release» son.

Having received convincing evidence, the criminals transferred the second tranche of payment to the police. At this stage, their criminal plan was finally revealed, and the collected evidence made it possible to suspect them. Now Ukrainian law enforcement officers are preparing materials for their international search.

The investigation qualified the actions of the father and eldest son under Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion in especially large amounts). The sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The operation was carried out in coordination with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

According to the police statement, this case highlights the increase in the number of crimes related to digital assets. Extortion and kidnapping for cryptocurrency are becoming increasingly common, especially in an environment of limited government control over digital finances, law enforcement officials said.