“Now we have to go back to the sponsors,” assures the gendarmerie spokesperson

On Wednesday, the police managed to free the co-founder of the cryptocurrency company Ledger, detained in the Châteauroux area. Investors “have become targets”, according to Marie-Laure Pezant on franceinfo.

Cryptocurrency investorshave become targets“, assured Friday January 24, on franceinfo, the spokesperson for the gendarmerie Marie-Laure Pezant, the day after the release by the gendarmerie of the co-founder of a company specializing in the security of cryptoassets, kidnapped Tuesday in the Cher against ransom.”This is an exceptional operation, which demonstrates the full capacity of the gendarmerie to increase power very quickly“, welcomed the spokesperson.

“Ten people were arrested“, dont “some are known, particularly for acts of common law delinquency“, underlined Marie-Laure Pezant. “Now, we also have to go back to the sponsors, the investigations are underway“, she added. Asked about the possibility of an as yet unidentified sponsor who could be located abroad, the gendarmerie spokesperson replied that “investigation is not over“and that an overseas sponsor was a possibility.”This is why it is important to work in cooperation with the international“, she continued.

David Balland, co-founder of the company Ledger, a world leader in the design of physical cryptocurrency wallets, was kidnapped with his wife from their home in Méreau in Cher at dawn on Tuesday. The criminals demanded a large ransom in cryptocurrency in exchange for their release.

The alert was given by Éric Larchevêque, co-founder of the company who received a video of a mutilated finger from David Balland and a ransom demand. “The associate immediately notified the gendarmerie because he had a ransom demand, there was this kidnapping and then a mutilated finger, at that moment, we deployed all our resources on site“, commented the gendarmerie spokesperson.

“Initially, we know that there are two people who have been kidnapped, but we do not know where they are, if they are still in France, if they have gone abroad, we have no information and in 48 hours, we use all our local and national resources and we manage to find them.”

Marie-Laure Pezant

at franceinfo

“We have all the gendarmes of Cher and Indre who will be mobilized immediately to carry out research in the field (…), the GIGN which is planning with 90 personnel (…) and we also have the national cyber unit to do digital investigations“, she added.

On Wednesday January 23, the police managed to free David Balland, detained in the town of Châteauroux (Indre). His wife was found tied up in the trunk of a car in Étampes (Essonne). If the gendarmerie spokesperson did not indicate the amount of the ransom demanded by the kidnappers, she specified that it was several million euros, but specified that “part may have been frozen“. “What was done was that from the moment we found the two hostages and they were safe and taken care of by doctors, we were able to freeze this cryptocurrency“, she emphasized.