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Men convicted in London torture, blackmail case tied to crypto demand
Prosecutors said the victims transferred $30,000 after a gang demanded $150,000, and police traced the flat location using a phone left in the car.
Five men were convicted in London over the false imprisonment and blackmail of two French cryptocurrency millionaires who were held for 52 hours in an East London flat after being ambushed in Shadwell, according to Decrypt.
Prosecutors said the pair, both in their 20s, did not testify and transferred $30,000 in response to a $150,000 demand. Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC told the court that the victims' lifestyles, described as widely posted on social media, may have drawn the gang's attention.
Decrypt reports the court heard the victims were stripped and bound with tape and cable ties, then beaten, with boiling water poured over them. The jury cleared the men of kidnap, possessing an imitation firearm, and sexual assault, though the victims faced an allegation of sexual assault that involved legal protections for complainants.
Police traced the location of the flat through a phone a friend left inside a car after being dragged out. Yasir Mohamed was arrested at the victims' Earl's Court Airbnb and jurors cleared him of false imprisonment but could not reach a verdict on conspiracy to blackmail, while others were convicted of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment.