Key takeaways:
- Six Malaysian nationals, including four people and a married couple, were accused of kidnapping a Chinese national and holding him ransom in Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
- The charge sheet claims that the Chinese man was wrongfully detained for a ransom of $1,007,696 USDT, as reported by the Malay Mail, a local media outlet.
Six Malaysian nationals, including four people and a married couple, were accused of kidnapping a Chinese national and holding him ransom in Tether’s USDT stablecoin, valued at 4.44 million Malaysian ringgits ($1 million).
On July 11, the man was allegedly abducted by the accused, who are between the ages of 25 and 29, at one of the spots where the motorway linking Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya ends. Then, in order to free the victim, the organization wanted a ransom of one million Tether tokens.
The charge sheet claims that the Chinese man was wrongfully detained for a ransom of $1,007,696 USDT, as reported by the Malay Mail, a local media outlet.
The six defendants entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations of kidnapping on August 15. Judge Amir Effendy, however, refused to grant the accused kidnappers bail and rescheduled the hearing until October 8. He made a decision:
“After considering all arguments and the nature of the charges, the court has decided that bail will not be granted.”
Four other suspects linked to the kidnapping are being sought by the local police in the meantime; they are all part of an experienced group of eighteen kidnappers.
Chief of Selangor police, Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, said that four further gang members were shot and died in two different incidents on August 3.
The six Malaysians risk a minimum prison penalty of 30 years or a maximum of 40 years, as well as caning if found guilty under the Kidnapping Act.
Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, the Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, has disclosed that illicit crypto-mining operators lost $723 million in electricity between 2018 and 2023.
In relation to the June 13 Holograph hack, several individuals have been placed under arrest. The arrests were made in Italy with assistance from French authorities. As a result, substantial assets and electronics have been blocked and seized. Since the investigation is still ongoing, the suspects’ identities have not been made public, but it is expected that they will be extradited to France shortly to face charges.
