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They broke into the couple’s home wearing balaclavas during the night of December 17-18. In Dompierre-sur-Mer, a town near La Rochelle ( Charente-Maritime ), three assailants forced a cryptocurrency investor and his partner to transfer approximately 8 million euros in cryptocurrencies to them, according to the Rennes prosecutor’s office on Friday.
More specifically, according to our information and that of the specialized media outlet The Big Whale , the assailants broke into the home around 5:00 a.m. There, they tied up the woman and her partner, beating the latter for nearly two hours. The group then achieved their goal: the couple finally agreed, under threat, to transfer cryptocurrency, an amount estimated at 8 million euros by the prosecutor’s office.
Once the attackers had left, the two occupants, “very shaken,” finally managed to free themselves and alert emergency services, according to a statement released by the Rennes prosecutor’s office on Friday. The man was hospitalized, but his condition was not life-threatening. His potential inability to work has not yet been assessed.
The facts suggest that this is “a structured criminal team,” according to the prosecutor’s office. The investigation, which includes charges of “organized extortion” and “kidnapping,” has therefore been entrusted to the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Rennes, responsible for combating organized crime in western France.
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The man worked in the cryptocurrency sector, a police source indicated. An electronic wallet containing cryptocurrency was also stolen, according to the same source.
From: Eight million euros in cryptocurrency stolen: what we know about the kidnapping of a couple near La Rochelle – Le Parisien.
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