Three men sentenced to 12 years in prison in Belgium in case of crypto kidnapping

By Hannah Pérez

A court in Brussels condemned three responsible for the kidnapping of the wife of the investor Blockchain, Stéphane Winkel, last year. The sentence occurs in the middle of a wave of kidnappings to cryptouss in Europe.

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• Court in Brussels condemned three kidnappers involved in case of cryptocurrencies.
• They had abduced the wife of the investor Blockchain, Stéphane Winkel, last year.
• The sentence occurs in the middle of a wave of kidnappings to cryptouss in Europe and the rest of the world.

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A court in Belgium sentenced three men to 12 years in prison for a case of kidnapping related to cryptocurrency at a time of increased physical attacks on assets users such as Bitcoin.

At the end of last year, the wife of the millionaire cryptocurrency investor, Stéphane Winkel, starred in a terrifying experience when she was kidnapped just outside her house by three captors who forced her to climb a truck.

Alerted directly by the husband, the police could chase the kidnappers and derail the vehicle towards a ditch near witches. The following was that the officers arrested the three adults involved. Prosecutors in charge of the case reported the event during a trial in a criminal court in Brussels, according to the coverage of The block, that quotes the report of the local medium The Dernière Heure.

During the hearing, the defendants would have denied being the intellectual actors of the attack, stating that “sponsors” had threatened them with death if they did not carry out the incident. However, the Court dismissed this version, qualifying the hostage taking operation and sentencing the three subjects to 12 years after bars.

The court also ordered compensation of more than 1 million euros (USD $ 1.2 million) for damages for victims, which since then have moved to another home in search of security, according to the report.

In addition to the three men, an allegedly involved adolescent accomplice was sent to the Minors Court.

Terrifying increased kidnapping to cryptousuaries

The news occurs in the midst of a spooky wave of kidnapping and physical attacks aimed at cryptocurrency users in Europe.

Last month, we reported one last incident occurred of this type in which a 23-year-old was kidnapped while mandating in the Maisons-Alfort area in Paris, where the kidnappers demanded them to deliver their cryptocurrency wallet Ledger in exchange for freeing him. This marked the 10th kidnapping related to cryptocurrencies in France so far from 2025.

The event came weeks after an attempted kidnapping in broad daylight in the French capital shocked the world of cryptocurrencies. The incident recordings circulated in social and newspaper networks, showing kidnappers trying to kidnap the daughter and grandson of the general director of the cryptocurrency firm, PaymiumPierre Noizat.

The co -founder of LedgerDavid Balland, suffered something similar when he was kidnapped and tortured in January before the police rescued him. Also last month, andThe Australian cryptocurrency billionaire, Tim Heath, escaped violent kidnappers in Estonia when he bit the finger of one of the attackers, as reported by the media The Sydney Morning Herald.

This year is on the way to being the most violent period in history for cryptocurrency holders, with the number of attacks currently known rising to 32 around the worldaccording to data compiled by Jameson LOPP.

Order forces have responded to cases with coordinated efforts to stop criminals.

According to The Dernière HeureBelgian detectives continue to investigate the alleged intellectual authors of several kidnappings related to cryptocurrencies that occurred in Belgium and France.

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Hannah Estefanía Pérez / Diariobitcoin

Image generated with AI, under free use license

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