Two suspects linked to a street gang in western Montreal were arrested by the Sûreté du Québec in connection with the kidnapping of cryptocurrency influencer Kevin Mirshahi, found dead in a park on October 30. A woman had already been charged with murder in the case in August, but it was clear from the start that she could not have acted alone.
Posted at 1:39 p.m.
Mr. Mirshahi, along with two women and a man, were kidnapped in Old Montreal on June 21, returning from an evening. All were subsequently released, except the influencer, whose remains were found months later in Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
A 32-year-old woman, Joanie Lepage, has already been charged with premeditated murder in this case. She owns the house in Les Cèdres, in Montérégie, where the influencer was killed, according to the investigators’ theory.
On Tuesday, the Sûreté du Québec arrested Darius Perry and Nackeal Hickey, two men linked to the Rollin 90s gang, a “blue” street gang present in the West of Montreal. The two are expected to appear shortly to be charged with forcible confinement and accessory after the fact, but not murder, the police confirmed.
Nackael Hickey was already incarcerated following another story. In August, he was involved in an exchange of gunfire with SPVM police officers, during which two innocent citizens were shot and injured. Patrol officers were called because of an argument involving Hickey. When they wanted to arrest him, he tried to steal the citizens’ vehicle to escape, then opened fire towards the police. Dozens of shots had been fired.
Police did not provide details Tuesday about why Perry and Hickey allegedly attacked influencer Kevin Mirshahi, who had long been the target of threats.
Promotion of a cryptocurrency
In July 2021, Kevin Mirshahi was indicted by the Administrative Tribunal for Financial Markets in a cryptocurrency case which caused investors to lose a lot of money.
The influencer was then the head of a private group called Crypto Paradise. This group had helped promote on social networks a cryptocurrency, “MRS”, which a young Laval entrepreneur in his twenties, Antoine Marsan, had launched in February of the same year.
At that time, Kevin Mirshahi told The Press having “brought other influencers” with him in this adventure in order to “create a sort of hype ».
The promotional campaign would have praised the MRS by claiming that its value would experience meteoric growth. Nearly 2,000 investors, some of whom were minors, then bet massively in this new cryptocurrency.
Cold shower
The idyll was only short-lived since, in mid-April 2021, a major investor of unknown identity sold 10% of currencies in a single night, allowing him to pocket a significant profit, but causing a drop suddenly the value of the MRS.
Immediate cold shower for the thousands of investors who suddenly and collectively lost nearly 2 million dollars.
Mr. Mirshahi then received threats from disgruntled investors.
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