Five men convicted after two French crypto investors were held captive in London for 52 hours

Five men were convicted after two French cryptocurrency investors in their 20s were held captive in London for more than 52 hours and forced to transfer about $30,000 in crypto. Prosecutors said the pair were abducted after parking a rented Mercedes in Shadwell, then taken to a flat in Canning Town where they were beaten, scalded with boiling water, burned with a cigarette and threatened with genital mutilation unless they paid a $150,000 ransom. One victim said he was forced to drink toilet water, while another later told police he believed he had been "sold" to a second gang after one captive was released. A jury at Inner London Crown Court convicted two defendants of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment and three others of false imprisonment. The Metropolitan Police traced the gang after a phone left behind in the Mercedes helped officers locate the flat, and police later arrested Julius George, Isaac Bakoya and Adel Sineen after a chase through residential streets. Prosecutors said the alleged organizer, Ibrahim Mohamed, known as "Nino," directed the operation through WhatsApp and Snapchat and remains at large. The case comes amid a wider increase in so-called wrench attacks, in which criminals use physical violence or threats to force crypto holders to hand over funds. CertiK logged 34 confirmed wrench attacks in the first four months of 2026, up 41% from the same period of 2025, while France has recorded roughly 70 crypto-related kidnappings or extortion attempts since January 2026, with 88 people charged.