Three Get 12-Year Terms In Belgium Crypto Kidnapping
A Belgian court has sentenced three people for their roles in a cryptocurrency-related kidnapping targeting the wife of local crypto entrepreneur Stéphane Winkel.
The Brussels Criminal Court handed down 12-year prison sentences to three kidnappers who attacked Winkel’s wife in December 2024, local news agency La Dernière Heure reported on Thursday.
The criminals were convicted of hostage-taking after abducting the victim outside her home, forcing her into a van and demanding a ransom in cryptocurrency.
Alerted by Winkel, law enforcement pursued the van and subsequently arrested the kidnappers and freed the victim after taking the vehicle off the road with a risky maneuver.
Kidnapping masterminds still at large
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