It's a business “extremely sensitive”the term comes up regularly in all the mouths of the Indre interlocutors that The New Republic was able to reach. On January 21, 2025, “in the early morning”David Balland, one of the directors of the cryptocurrency company Ledger, was kidnapped with his partner from their home in Méreau, in Cher.
A vast gendarmerie operation was deployed, led first by the Bourges public prosecutor's office then by the Paris public prosecutor's office, under the jurisdiction specializing in organized crime. One of the conclusions of this kidnapping case took place on Wednesday January 22 afternoon, in the town of Montierchaume, according to information that we were able to confirm by several witnesses: “We saw at least twenty police and gendarmerie cars passing through the town, and a helicopter, says a witness from the town. We figured something was happening. »
It was in a rental in this town that David Balland was detained and then released by the gendarmerie forces, who circulated in large numbers in Montierchaume on Wednesday. The Indre gendarmes were also mobilized in this operation. The man “having been taken care of by the emergency services had to be the subject of care”indicated the press release from the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco). The Paris prosecutor's office indicates that the kidnappers gave him “mutilated the hand”.
This operation was carried out with the greatest confidentiality, the objective being the release of the hostages. David Balland's wife, kidnapped with him, was released Thursday January 23 in the morning, in Essonne where she was detained.
The Paris prosecutor's office communicated during the day on Thursday. In the evening, during a press briefing, the prosecution indicated that ten people, nine men and one woman, were arrested in this open investigation. “on the offense of kidnapping and sequestration by an organized gang to obtain the execution of a condition: the criminals in fact demanded the payment of a large ransom in cryptocurrency”. The people involved are known to the police and are aged between 20 and 40..
-Manager of a French “unicorn”
David Balland is one of the founders of the start-up Ledger, a company specializing in cryptocurrency and the security of cryto-assets “world leader in the design of physical cryptocurrency wallets, allowing everyone to directly manage their own cryptoassets”specified the Paris prosecutor's office.
Since Tuesday January 22, following the kidnapping in Méreau, the Cher area was heavily occupied by gendarmerie forces. “When I got home, around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, I saw the blue lights of the gendarmerie flashing in the distancetells the NR this resident of Méreau. I live a few blocks from the cul-de-sac where they were stationed. The area was cordoned off until the next day, Wednesday. »
On Thursday, two kilometers away, on the banks of the Berry canal in Vierzon, an owner was fixing boards to the windows of housing intended for rental. His homes were searched the day before and their doors and windows broken during this operation, theAFP this owner, wishing to remain anonymous.
Aziliz Le Berre and Albane Ratsivalaka (with AFP)
