Earlier this week, David Balland, co-founder of the French giant Ledger, was kidnapped at his home in Méreau, near Vierzon. As revealed by the Paris Prosecutor's Office, the kidnappers also took the entrepreneur's partner. They were forced into a vehicle.
Once captive, the couple was separated. Unsurprisingly, the kidnappers sent a ransom in cryptocurrencies to the other founders of Ledger. To communicate with Eric Larchevêque, one of the other founders of the company, the criminals used a WhatsApp account linked to a phone number located in Asia. They also used a VPN to cover their tracks.
On Wednesday, David Balland was rescued by the GIGN during an operation in Châteauroux. The police came across a suspicious car around Vierzon. Inside the vehicle, a man admitted to being part of the group that orchestrated the kidnapping of David Balland. By consulting the suspect's phone, the police were able to discover a hideout in Châteauroux. That's where they found the co-founder of Ledger, injured but very much alive.
The search then focused on the entrepreneur's partner. A day later, she was found in the trunk of a car in Etampes (Essonne), more than 150 km from Vierzon. According to the Paris prosecutor's office, 230 police officers, including 90 from the GIGN, were mobilized in the operation.
Ten arrests and a ransom
Three men were present in the car. They were arrested by the police. At the end of the investigation, the investigators arrested ten people involved in the kidnapping of the couple. The vast majority of the individuals were known for criminal acts. They are between 20 and 40 years old and come from all over France.
They risk life imprisonment for "kidnapping and sequestration in an organized gang with a demand for ransom, accompanied by acts of torture or barbarity", and for "extortion with the use of a weapon".
During negotiations with the kidnappers, investigators decided to send part of the ransom in order to gain time. However, the kidnappers were unable to access the loot that was sent to them. As reported by our colleagues at The Big Whale, "a ransom in cryptocurrencies was indeed paid to the kidnappers of the co-founder of Ledger", but "the criminals were never able to access the funds, as they were frozen remotely."
Apparently, "the various stakeholders" in the investigation managed to cooperate in order to block the funds received by the hackers. The ransom payment involved several third parties, including the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether. The company was able to freeze the funds in order to pull the rug out from under the criminals, who were demanding €10 million in bitcoins.
Everything suggests that the kidnappers demanded the ransom be paid into an account managed by a cryptocurrency exchange platform. In fact, the exchange was able to block the accounts of "the criminals on the platforms they used". Ultimately, 95% of the loot was able to be blocked. The situation would have been different if the ransom had been paid into a non-custodial wallet, whose private keys are managed directly by the user.
On his X account, Eric Larchevêque, who was contacted by the kidnappers, said he felt "immense relief and deep joy to know that my friend and associate David, as well as his wife, have been released".
Source: Le Monde
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