Six people aged 17 to 20 have been placed under judicial examination in Paris on Friday for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a mother and her 11-year-old son over cryptocurrencies, which occurred on Monday in Yonne. The victims were freed on Tuesday by the GIGN in Val-de-Marne. Prosecutors requested their pre-trial detention.
Four hooded assailants entered the family home shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday in Yonne. They tied the father to a chair with zip ties, beat him, threatened mutilation, and demanded a transfer of $400,000 in cryptocurrencies, according to the Paris prosecutor's office.
The kidnappers ransacked the home, taking €10,000 in cash, jewelry, small silver ingots, and a rifle, which they used to threaten the victims. Discovering a seven-day delay for cryptocurrency transfers, they abducted the mother and child in two vehicles.
The father freed himself, alerted a friend who notified the gendarmes. He received videos of the hostages in a hotel room. Rapid investigations located the victims in Boissy-Saint-Léger, Val-de-Marne, leading to their release at 6 a.m. Tuesday by the GIGN, with around 100 gendarmes mobilized.
Six suspects, including one minor, were brought before judges of Paris's specialized interregional jurisdiction on Friday. Placed under examination for organized gang kidnapping and sequestration, they face life imprisonment. A seventh person was released after it emerged their phone had been stolen.
