Six men are accused of kidnapping three family members and their nanny from a Chicago townhouse in October 2024 in exchange for a crypto-ransom. Before being freed next to a dry cleaners, the victims were allegedly kept for five days and forced into handing over almost $15 million in Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.
Crypto Kidnapping Case Unfolds
From a 44-page FBI affidavit unsealed last week, the specifics of the kidnapping have surfaced from a convoluted network of evidence gathered by law enforcement including receipts, unused zip ties, and surveillance footage from rental cars and fast-food restaurants.
Zehuan Wei, one of the accused, 34-year-old, was caught on January 17 at a California border post trying to cross into the United States from Mexico. He has since made his first court appearance in California.Â
Five other men – Fan Zhang, Huajing Yan, Shengnan Jiang, Shiqiang Lian and Ye Cao – are accused of kidnapping along with Wei. Some of these individuals reportedly left to return to China shortly after Wei’s arrest.
The victims, referred to as “Victims A-D” in the affidavit, were first alerted to their father’s concerns via a WeChat message on October 27, indicating that they had been taken hostage. The kidnappers demanded ransom payments in Bitcoin or Ethereum, two of the most popular crypto assets.
$9 Million Still Missing
The event started when one of the claimed kidnappers knocked on the family’s door claiming to have inadvertently wrecked their garage. Opening the door, several armed guys shoved their way in and grabbed the family members. The boy said he was snatched right away from the shower.
Once in custody, the kidnappers pressured the boy to make more Bitcoin purchases. They repeatedly drove him around Chicago, insisting on access to his records. The group made around $15 million in Bitcoin assets during their captivity.
After being driven in a white Ford van to an Airbnb in Forest Park, the victims stayed one night before being driven somewhere. Finally discharged on November 1, they walked to a neighboring dry cleaners calling for an Uber to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.Â
Amazingly, the son said he was treated really nicely throughout his imprisonment even though he claimed he was hit on the head with a gun—suspected to be fake.
Alleged kidnappers arriving in the white van and using cell phones were seen on Airbnb surveillance cameras. With this video, the FBI found at least six suspects and compiled further data connecting them to the crime—including DNA samples and personal belongings discovered in the rental cars.
Authorities followed suspects’ travel patterns and found Wei and Zhang had flown from Chicago to Las Vegas on November 1. Said to have left for Los Angeles on the same day were Jiang, Yan, Lian, and Cao.Â
Later on, the FBI verified that Lian followed suit the next morning and Jiang and Yan checked on a flight from Tijuana, Mexico, to Beijing.Â
As of now, approximately $9 million of the crypto assets remains unaccounted for, raising questions about the whereabouts of the remaining funds.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
