French authorities have arrested six suspects, including a child, after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot. Four men and one woman were detained, three overnight and two on Sunday morning, the Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran told Agence France-Presse. The captors threatened to mutilate their victims if the transfer was not made quickly, Dran told reporters, declining to specify the amount demanded. French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies. In January 2025, kidnappers seized the French crypto boss David Balland and his partner.

Source: The Guardian February 09, 2026 02:06 UTC