French authorities are holding six men and a woman following the kidnapping and torture of the co-founder of a global cryptocurrency company and his wife, prosecutors said Saturday, January 25. The seven, who could face long prison terms up to life, are among 10 people taken into custody late Thursday as anti-gang investigators probe the case.
David Balland, a 36-year-old co-founder and former employee of Ledger – a world leader in security systems for crypto and digital assets – and his wife were taken from his home in Mereau in the Loire region of central France early Tuesday, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told reporters Friday. Another Ledger co-founder, Eric Larcheveque, alerted police to the kidnapping after receiving a video showing a mutilated finger belonging to Balland, and a ransom demand, according to a source close to the case. Police located and freed Balland on Wednesday, and he was taken to hospital for treatment. His wife, taken to a different location by the presumed kidnappers, was found tied up in a car.
Most of the suspects were already known to police for past criminal activities, but none had previously been involved in gang-related crime, according to prosecutors. The kidnappers asked for "a large cryptocurrency sum," Beccuau said, without saying how large, with part of it handed over during negotiations handled by police before most of the crypto assets were seized and frozen. The seven – five aged between 20 and 25 – are now being held in pre-trial detention. They face charges of gang-related kidnapping, acts of torture and armed extortion. Three others initially held have been released. Their lawyers have so far declined to comment.
A total of 230 police and gendarmes and police were involved in the operation, including the GIGN elite tactical unit specializing in hostage situations and cryptocurrency experts. Founded in 2014, French company Ledger is a so-called "unicorn" – a privately held startup worth more than $1 billion – and world leader in digital wallets and vaults to safeguard crypto assets.