David Balland, Eric Larchevêque’s partner in the start-up responsible for the security of cryptocurrencies Ledger, was kidnapped in Vierzon, with his partner.
A major system was put in place to free the hostages and arrest the criminals who demanded a ransom of 10 million euros.
On LCI, Marie-Laure Pezant, spokesperson for the National Gendarmerie, reviews the details which led to the outcome of this distressing kidnapping.
The co-founder of Ledger, a start-up specializing in cryptocurrencies, David Balland, and his partner were released on January 23, forty-eight hours after the alert was given by Eric Larchevêque, his media associate known for his participation in the show “Who wants to be my partner?” on M6 and who received a ransom demand.
On the LCI set, Marie-Laure Pezant, spokesperson for the National Gendarmerie, returned to the incredible system put in place to locate and free the two hostages who are “obviously very shocked”. “The difficulty is that we have an unlocated hostage situation”explains the colonel. “The local gendarmerie units are the first engaged, and, very quickly, experts, specialists with the national cyber unit of the gendarmerie and the GIGN are projected”she explains at length in the video at the top of this article.
The case, extraordinary and during which the 36-year-old businessman lost a finger, severed by his captors, required carrying out investigations in the physical and digital world, in order to recover as much information as possible. information. “We are going to do auditions, neighborhood interviews, shadowing. We are also going to recover all the digital data that we can find, for example that of video protection,” explains the soldier. In parallel, “cyber gendarmes will help analyze the various data”she continues. This led to a first arrest by the GIGN in Indre where David Balland was held captive, then the next day in Étampes (Essonne), where his wife was held, tied up in the trunk of a vehicle.
Part of the ransom, ten million euros, was paid to the criminals, notably in cryptos, but it was able to be recovered: “Once digital and cyber investigators were able to follow the trail of these cryptoassets and freeze them, then seize them in the virtual world, we were able to trace them and they should return to their owner fairly quickly,” assures the military.
-People who each have their mission
For now, investigations are continuing. The ten people arrested did not “not necessarily a link between them”, indicates the spokesperson. “We are faced with people who each have their own mission. It’s a real business. It’s an organized system with sponsors,” she adds. “The investigation must continue to allow us to trace the sponsors and better understand what happened.”
This Friday evening, seven members of this operation are presented to investigating judges responsible for organized crime in Paris with a view to their possible indictment for having participated in the kidnapping and sequestration of the co-founder of Ledger, this specialized company in cryptoassets, and his partner.
The prosecution requested their placement in pre-trial detention. Judicial information for arrest, kidnapping, sequestration or arbitrary detention with torture or barbaric act and to obtain the execution of an order or condition in an organized gang, crimes punishable by life imprisonment and a million ‘fine euros, was opened.
