The authorities announced on Thursday that the founder of a French company, cryptocurrency and his wife, were released in France this week after being kidnapped and brutally seized with a ransom.
David Palland, Founder Professor’s bookA company that sells physical devices to store encryption assets was kidnapped, along with his wife early on Tuesday from her home in Vierzon, a city in central France, according to Paris Prosecutor. The public prosecutor said that the couple was moved away by car, then separated and detained them in various locations.
The kidnapping led to a wide investigation that includes more than 230 officers who sought to locate the couple. The authorities said at a press conference in Paris on Thursday evening, they released them without shooting.
“This was a very complex case,” said General Gisslan Riti, head of the elite unit specialized in saving the hostages that released the spouses.
The Paris Prosecutor, Lauer Beckoa, said that the kidnappers had contacted another founder in Ledger and demanded a large ransom to pay the cryptocurrency. She said that the investigators still prove how much they requested.
The company was alerted Gendarmerie, the police force in the smaller cities, rural and suburban areas in France. French news means that caught the investigation of refraining from publishing any details to avoid the safety of the couple.
GENDARMes is quickly, Mr. Balland in Châteauroux, about 30 miles southwest of his home, and he liberated him on Wednesday. Ms. Pico said he was transferred to the hospital because of the “distortion” caused by the kidnappers in his hand.
An official informed of the investigation, who was not authorized to publicly talk about an ongoing case, said that the kidnappers had sent a picture of Mr. Palland’s deformed finger to pressure the company.
Ms. Pico said that part of the ransom was pushed during negotiations with the kidnappers. She said: “Almost all this cryptocurrency has been tracked, frozen and seized,” she said.
On Thursday, by using the monitoring of some suspects, and analyzing phone records and interrogation many people who were already arrested, investigators have the wife of Mr. Balland in étampes, about 80 miles north of Vierzon.
Mrs. Pecoa said that the officers found her in a car, but they were not authors.
In all, nine men and women, between the ages of 20 and 40, were held for their interrogation. You did not introduce them or provide details about their participation, saying only that they were from different cities and had criminal records. She was not known to the police as part of the organized crime.
Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger, wrote, On social media Thursday that it is “deeply comfortable”.
“Our maximum priority has always been allowing law enforcement to take their jobs and protect the integrity of the investigation,” said Mr. Gotier. “We have respected law enforcement requests about protecting the important details of the current investigation and the appreciation of the members of the press who did the same.”
Ledger, a prominent startup of more than one billion dollars, was established in 2014 and has sold more than six million units since then, according to the company’s website. The company says it has more than 700 employees in Europe, Asia and the United States.
éric Larchevêque, another founder in the company and a well -known TV character who appeared in the form of jury The equivalent of France for “Shark Tank“Express” enormous comfort and deep joy ” On social media After the release of Mr. Palland and his wife.
Prosecutors opens an investigation into the charges of kidnapping and a person’s contract against his will as part of an organized gang in order to obtain something in return; Armed torture and extortion. Ms. Pico said that these crimes could carry a life sentence.
The case echoed a similar case The French media reported This month in which a man and his family were held hostage by a group that wanted to blackmail his son, and he is influential in the cryptocurrency in Dubai. They were released, but the fists were not thrown in this case, According to news reports.
At this stage, the investigators did not prove any links between the two cases, Ms. Pico said.
