In brief
- Former Ukrainian police officers allegedly kidnapped crypto entrepreneurs and extorted roughly $2.2 million through violence, intimidation, and fake debt claims.
- Prosecutors say the group targeted at least four victims, using law enforcement tactics, official transport, and police impersonation to carry out the scheme.
- The case comes amid a global rise in crypto “wrench attacks,” where criminals use physical coercion to steal digital assets.
Former Ukrainian police colonels allegedly turned their law-enforcement expertise into a criminal enterprise, kidnapping crypto entrepreneurs and extorting over $2.2 million in a series of crypto “wrench attacks,” according to prosecutors.
The Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said…
