Briefly
- Three Tennessee males have been indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy to commit theft and kidnapping prices.
- The fees stem from an alleged cryptocurrency theft operation the place conspirators compelled victims at gunpoint to switch hundreds of thousands in digital belongings.
- One incident noticed $6.5 million in cryptocurrency stolen at gunpoint, prosecutors mentioned.
Three Tennessee males have been federally indicted on theft, kidnapping, and conspiracy prices associated to an alleged multi-million greenback cryptocurrency theft operation focusing on victims throughout California.
In keeping with a press launch from the U.S. Division of Justice, Elijah Armstrong, Nino Chindavanh, and Jayden Rucker traveled from Tennessee to California and posed as supply individuals to realize entry to victims’ residences in San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Los Angeles.
Prosecutors mentioned the lads used firearms, duct tape, and zip ties to assault their victims, binding and restraining them to pressure disclosure of cryptocurrency account data.
In a single November incident, a San Francisco sufferer anticipating a bundle was approached by a robber carrying a white field at his Mission Dolores neighborhood dwelling. The sufferer was allegedly sure with duct tape, pistol-whipped and threatened earlier than being compelled to switch $10 million in Bitcoin and $3 million in Ethereum. One other incident cited by prosecutors noticed a sufferer robbed of $6.5 million in cryptocurrency at gunpoint.
Armstrong and Rucker have been arrested in Los Angeles on December 31, 2025, whereas Chindavanh was arrested in Sunnyvale on December 22, 2025. The fees carry most sentences starting from 20 years for theft and tried kidnapping counts to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, together with fines of $250,000 for every depend of Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Theft and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping.
The alleged scheme drew sturdy condemnation from federal prosecutors and regulation enforcement officers, who characterised it as each refined and harmful.
“These people, as alleged, terrorized their victims within the hopes of stealing huge sums of cryptocurrency,” mentioned United States Legal professional Craig H. Missakian. “The scheme was not solely refined, it was brazen, violent, and harmful.”
FBI Performing Particular Agent in Cost Matt Cobo known as the alleged conspiracy a “calculated scheme,” including that the indictments underscored the FBI’s “unwavering dedication to defending our communities from violent and arranged prison exercise.”
Crypto “wrench assaults”
The Tennessee case displays a broader surge in bodily assaults focusing on cryptocurrency holders, generally referred to as “wrench assaults” within the trade.
In keeping with information from cybersecurity agency CertiK, 72 verified incidents occurred globally in 2025, representing a 75% enhance from the earlier yr. These assaults contain criminals utilizing bodily pressure or threats to compel victims to switch digital belongings, exploiting the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions. The assaults have develop into more and more refined, with perpetrators usually conducting in depth surveillance of high-net-worth crypto buyers earlier than placing.
Legislation enforcement organizations all over the world are cracking down on “wrench assaults,” with 88 charged in France over a string of crypto kidnappings, following incidents together with the kidnapping and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland, a house invasion try focusing on Binance France’s CEO, and the kidnapping of a Justice of the Peace and her mom for a crypto ransom.
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