France charges 88 people over crypto kidnappings, including more than 10 minors

PARIS – French prosecutors said on April 24 they had charged 88 people over a spate of kidnappings related to cryptocurrency, including more than 10 minors.

The charges related to 12 cases of kidnapping for crypto extortion, chief organised crime prosecutor Vanessa Perree said in a statement, without giving a time period.

French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.

Victims are kidnapped and held for hours or days, sometimes under threat of violence, with demands made for ransoms paid in cryptocurrency.

Two men kidnapped in separate incidents in January and May 2025 had fingers cut off by the captors, who demanded vast sums for their release.

Six people, including a minor, were arrested in February this year over the kidnapping of a magistrate and her mother in another crypto ransom plot.

The woman’s partner had a leading position at a cryptocurrency startup.

Authorities are dealing with a “significant volume of suspects”, Ms Perree said on April 24, saying that “more than 135 cases of this kind have been recorded since 2023“.

She said that prosecutors had “identified people involved repeatedly in multiple cases, revealing the existence of structured networks” behind the crimes. AFP