A French crypto entrepreneur and his wife have been released after being kidnapped

The founder of a French cryptocurrency company and his wife were released from prison in France this week after being brutally kidnapped and held for ransom, authorities announced Thursday.

David Balland, Founder notebookA company that sells physical devices for storing crypto assets was abducted along with his wife from their home in Vierzon, central France, on Tuesday, Paris prosecutors said. The couple got into a car and then were separated and arrested at different locations, prosecutors said.

The kidnapping prompted an extensive investigation involving more than 230 officers who sought to find the couple. In the end, they freed them without firing a shot, officials said at a press conference in Paris on Thursday evening.

“It was a very complicated case,” said Gen. Guslain Reti, head of the elite unit specializing in hostage rescue that freed the pair.

According to Paris prosecutor Lorre Bequeu, the hostages contacted another founder of Ledger and demanded that a large ransom be paid using cryptocurrency. She said investigators are still determining how much they requested in total.

The company alerted the gendarmerie, a police force in small towns and rural and suburban France. French news outlets, which caught wind of the investigation, were urged to refrain from publishing any details to avoid putting the couple’s safety at risk.

The generals quickly found Mr. Balland in Chateauroux, about 30 miles southwest of his home, and freed him on Wednesday. Ms. Bekua said he was hospitalized due to “mutilation” inflicted on him by his abductors.

An official familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing case, said the kidnappers sent a picture of Mr Baland’s severed finger to put pressure on the company.

Part of the ransom was paid through negotiations with the kidnappers, Ms Bekua said. “Almost all of that cryptocurrency has been tracked, seized and seized,” she said.

On Thursday, using surveillance of some of the suspects, analyzing phone records and questioning several people previously arrested, investigators located Mr Balland’s wife in Etampes, about 80 miles north of Vierzon.

Officers found her bound in a car but unharmed, Ms Bekua said.

A total of nine men and one woman between the ages of 20 and 40 have been arrested and taken to jail in connection with the kidnapping, Ms Bekua said. She did not identify them or provide details about their involvement, saying they were from different cities and had criminal records. They were not known to the police because they were part of organized crime, she said.

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier wrote On social media “He’s very relieved,” he said Thursday.

“Our top priority has always been to allow law enforcement to do their job and maintain the integrity of the investigation,” Mr. Gauthier said. “We respect law enforcement’s requests to withhold details of ongoing investigations and thank members of the press who have taken similar action.”

The popular startup, valued at more than $1 billion, was founded in 2014 and has since sold more than six million units, according to the company’s website. The company said it has more than 700 employees in Europe, Asia and America.

Eric Larchevke, another founder of the company and a famous TV personality, appeared on the jury. The French equivalent of “Shark TankHe expressed “relief and deep joy.” On social media After Mr. Baland and his wife were released from prison.

Prosecutors are investigating charges of kidnapping a man and illegally joining an organized gang to get something else. acts of torture; and armed extortion. Those offenses could carry a life sentence, Ms Bekua said.

The case echoed the same thing It was reported by the French news media This month, a man and his family were kidnapped by groups seeking to hunt down the son of a Dubai-based cryptocurrency influencer. They were released, but no arrests were made in the case. According to news reports.

At this stage, investigators have not established any link between the two cases, Ms Bekua said.