Five men were convicted in a London kidnapping where two French crypto investors were held 52 hours and forced to transfer $30,000. The case mirrors rising physical coercion in crypto crime.
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Five men were convicted Monday in a London kidnapping and extortion case that saw two French cryptocurrency investors held captive for more than 52 hours and forced to transfer $30,000 in digital assets.
Gerson Borges and Mohamed Osman were found guilty of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment. Julius George, Isaac Bakoya and William Adebisi were convicted of false imprisonment. All five were acquitted of kidnapping, possessing an imitation firearm and sexual assault charges.
The two victims, both in their 20s, traveled from France to London and were staying in Kensington before arranging to buy cannabis in east London, prosecutors told Inner London Crown Court. After leaving their rented Mercedes in Shadwell, three masked men carrying a gun and a knife confronted them and forced them back into the vehicle, which was driven to an apartment in Canning Town.
The victims told investigators they were stripped naked, bound with tape and cable ties, beaten, burned with cigarettes and scalded with boiling water. The gang initially demanded $150,000 in cryptocurrency. The victims transferred about $30,000 before the attackers concluded no more funds were immediately available.
Prosecutors said the gang also threatened to mutilate them, force them into sexual acts and attack one victim's girlfriend unless they handed over crypto. One victim alleged he was sexually assaulted during the ordeal; the jury acquitted the defendants on those counts. UK reporting restrictions prevent identification of two defendants because of laws protecting alleged victims in sexual offence cases.
Court proceedings identified Ibrahim Mohamed, known as "Nino," as the alleged organizer who directed members of the group from overseas through WhatsApp and Snapchat. He remains at large.
The investigation turned when a friend who had traveled with the victims escaped during the ambush. His mobile phone remained inside the Mercedes without the gang noticing. After reaching a McDonald's in Earl's Court, he persuaded a security guard to call emergency services. Using the phone's location and CCTV footage, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad identified the flat. Police intercepted the suspects after a vehicle pursuit through residential London streets that reached about 70 mph. When officers rescued one victim from the suspects' car, his hands were still tied and cigarette burns covered his forehead and cheek.
The victims later declined to testify in person, telling the court they remained afraid of the group.
The London convictions follow a series of violent crimes targeting crypto holders. In a U.S. federal case earlier this year, two Texas brothers pleaded guilty to holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint for more than eight hours and forcing the transfer of over $8 million in cryptocurrency. Security researchers call these "wrench attacks," where victims are physically coerced rather than hacked remotely.
France has also seen rising crypto-linked violent crime. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said June 30 that authorities had recorded 77 cases involving kidnapping, unlawful detention, extortion or attempted offenses connected to the crypto sector in 2026, up from 45 cases in 2025. Around 200 people had been arrested. Nuñez said organized criminal groups increasingly target individuals whose crypto wealth is visible through social media or public activity. The London case's circumstances, with the court hearing the victims' online display of wealth may have made them targets, match that pattern.
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