Key Takeaways
- Two Russian crypto entrepreneurs were kidnapped and extorted in Buenos Aires.
- Interpol has issued red notices for the Russian suspects who fled Argentina.
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A young Russian couple, who runs a crypto business in Buenos Aires, was kidnapped and extorted in the Palermo neighborhood after being lured into a meeting under pretenses. Authorities are now working with Interpol to locate the alleged Russian captors who fled the country.
As reported by Argentine news outlet La Nación, on May 23, the couple was invited to a private meeting at a rented apartment in Palermo by two Russian citizens after an initial business meeting at a local bar.
Upon entering the property, the victims were beaten, tied up, and extorted. They were forced to transfer $43,398 in crypto from their phones to the attackers’ wallet.
The kidnappers then demanded an additional $100,000 from the victims’ relatives in Russia, sending them a video and requesting payment via QR code. Another local media outlet, Infobae, confirmed the ransom was paid.
The ordeal ended when the female victim managed to call for help from a balcony, shouting in English and catching the attention of nearby restaurant workers, who quickly alerted authorities.
Buenos Aires police responded to the emergency call, rushed to the scene, and found the couple bound and in shock inside the apartment. Language barriers initially delayed communication, but a friend arrived to translate before official court interpreters recorded formal statements.
By the time officers arrived, the attackers had already fled. Investigators later confirmed that both suspects departed Argentina from Ezeiza International Airport within hours of the kidnapping, with one believed to travel to the United Arab Emirates and the other to Turkey.
The case is being handled by federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano and the Southern Anti-Kidnapping Division of the Federal Police (PFA). Federal Judge María Servini has ordered the international arrest of the suspects, with potential prison sentences of 8 to 15 years if they are caught and extradited.
Global violence against crypto figures is on the rise
Global violence against crypto figures has sharply increased in recent years, with a surge in physical attacks, kidnappings, and robberies targeting crypto executives, entrepreneurs, and their families.
Around the same time last week, New York City police arrested John Woeltz, a crypto entrepreneur from Kentucky, for allegedly kidnapping and torturing his former business partner, an Italian tourist.
The victim was forcibly restrained in a luxury SoHo townhouse for over two weeks, where Woeltz reportedly used a chainsaw, drugs, and physical assault to compel him to reveal crypto account passwords.
Earlier this month, in Paris, the daughter and grandson of the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French crypto exchange, narrowly escaped an armed kidnapping attempt by masked men who tried to forcibly abduct them into a van.
French police also recently rescued the abducted father of a crypto firm boss during a raid where kidnappers had demanded a multi-million euro ransom and severed a finger.
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