A London court convicted five men over the 52-hour kidnapping and extortion of two French crypto investors who were forced to transfer $30,000 in cryptocurrency. According to reports from The Daily Mail, the victims were both in their 20s and were abducted while visiting London. A jury found Gerson Borges and Mohamed Osman guilty of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment, while Julius George, Isaac Bakoya and William Adebisi were convicted of false imprisonment. The defendants were cleared of kidnapping, possessing an imitation firearm and sexual assault charges. The court heard that the operation had been controlled from overseas by a mastermind who instructed the offenders through WhatsApp and Snapchat, with this kingpin known as 'Nino' remaining at large.
The victims traveled from France to London and were staying in Kensington before arranging to buy cannabis in east London. As reported by The Daily Mail, after leaving their rented Mercedes in Shadwell, they were confronted by three masked men carrying a gun and knife before being forced back into the vehicle and driven to an apartment in Canning Town. The victims told investigators they were held inside the flat for about 52 hours, during which they said they were stripped naked, bound with tape and cable ties, beaten, burned with cigarettes and scalded with boiling water, including on their genitals. According to prosecuting barrister Heidi Stonecliffe KC, the victims were threatened with having their genitals cut off if they did not hand over $150,000, with one being informed that his girlfriend would be raped. The court described their ordeal as 'cold, hard torture'.
The investigation turned after a friend who had traveled with the victims escaped during the ambush. According to The Daily Mail, although he was pulled from the Mercedes by the attackers, his mobile phone remained inside the vehicle without the gang noticing. After reaching a McDonald's in Earl's Court, he persuaded a security guard to call emergency services. Using the phone's location together with CCTV footage, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad identified the location where the victims were being held and intercepted the suspects after a vehicle pursuit through residential London streets that reportedly reached speeds of about 70 mph. The chase ended with Adel Sineen, 18, crashing into a lamp post, while Isaac Bakoya was arrested in the car and Julius George was chased on foot by armed police officers.
Court proceedings identified Ibrahim Mohamed, known as 'Nino,' as the alleged organizer of the operation. As reported by The Daily Mail, prosecutors said he directed members of the group from overseas through WhatsApp and Snapchat and remains at large. One of the victims alleged that he had been sexually assaulted during the ordeal, though the jury acquitted the defendants on those allegations due to UK reporting restrictions protecting alleged victims in sexual offence cases. The court heard that the alleged organizer had evaded capture, with his name entered as 'Fatboy' in one of the offenders' phones. After the verdicts were delivered, it emerged that three of the convicted men have previous convictions for manslaughter, robbery and possessing a handgun with ammunition.
The London convictions add to a series of violent crimes targeting cryptocurrency holders, with criminals increasingly relying on physical coercion rather than online attacks to steal digital assets. According to The Daily Mail, France has experienced a rise in crypto-linked violent crime, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reporting 77 cases involving kidnapping, unlawful detention, extortion or attempted offences connected to the crypto sector in 2026, compared with 45 cases during 2025. The victims later declined to testify in person during the trial, telling the court they remained afraid of the group after the attack. The court heard that the millionaires' extravagant lifestyles posted on social media likely made them targets for extortion, with the pair being kidnapped while visiting London from France.
