The French authorities reportedly saved the co-founder of Hardware Wallet Firm Ledger and his wife after being abducted and kept for ransom.
According to a new article from the New York Times, Dave Balland and his wife were kidnapped out of their house in France earlier this week by bad actors who then contacted another founder of the company and demanded a large amount of crypto for their release.
The report says that Balland was found and released by the police on Wednesday about 30 miles away from his house, while his wife was found 80 miles away in a car a day later.
His wife was unharmed, but Balland had to be admitted to the hospital because his hand was mutilated by the abductors – a photo that was used to put the ledger under pressure to pay the ransom.
In the report, Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that part of the ransom was paid during the negotiations, but that the assets were followed, frozen and seized.
As mentioned by Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier on the social media platform X,
“We are deeply relieved that David and his wife have been released and are now safe. I contacted David, and our thoughts remain with him, his family and the members of our team who worked with David while he was at Ledger. We are grateful to the law enforcement for their quick action. Our top priority was always to allow law enforcement to do their work and to protect the integrity of the research. ”
Nine men and one woman, between 20 and 40 years old, were arrested and questioned about the kidnapping, although no other details about the suspects were released. In the report, Beccaua says that the crimes of kidnapping, torture and armed extortion bear potential lifelong penalties.
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