Florida Man Pleads Guilty in Kidnapping Linked to $240M Bitcoin Heist Investigation

A Florida man pleaded responsible in federal court docket Thursday to kidnapping and conspiracy costs in reference to a Bitcoin heist investigation.

The case concerned the kidnapping of a pair in Danbury, Connecticut. In the meantime, it has attracted nationwide consideration for its attainable connection to a $240 million crypto heist. The defendant, Michael Rivas, was certainly one of six suspects concerned in what authorities described as a failed ransom plot concentrating on the couple’s son.

Throughout Thursday’s trial, he admitted his involvement within the plot, which he stated stemmed from a co-defendant’s revenge. The sentencing tips agreed to by either side suggest a jail sentence of 11 to 14 years, with sentencing scheduled for Could 13.

A failed ransom plot and brutal assault

The Aug. 25 incident started when the suspects, who had been driving a number of autos, compelled a pair out of their Lamborghini SUV. Authorities stated the suspects attacked the person with a baseball bat and dragged the girl by her hair earlier than binding each victims with duct tape and forcing them right into a van. The suspects deliberate to demand a ransom from the couple’s son, who they believed had entry to important cryptocurrency holdings.

The plot rapidly unraveled when witnesses alerted native police. 4 of the six suspects had been arrested after abandoning their autos and fleeing on foot. The remaining two suspects had been later arrested at a close-by Airbnb rental. Though they had been injured in the course of the incident, the couple survived and obtained medical consideration.

Crypto heist raises suspicions

Authorities haven’t publicly confirmed that there’s a direct hyperlink between the kidnapping in Danbury and a latest $240 million cryptocurrency theft. Federal investigators, nevertheless, are investigating potential connections.

Per week earlier than the kidnapping, hackers posing as technical help employees for a cryptocurrency alternate stole greater than 4,100 Bitcoin from a Washington, DC sufferer. Prosecutors alleged that the thieves remotely accessed the sufferer’s laptop by a fraudulent safety breach declare.

Two suspects, Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano, have been charged case of cryptocurrency theft. Each allegedly used the stolen cash for extravagant purchases, together with luxurious automobiles, mansions and luxurious watches.

Specifically, Lam spent lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} at nightclubs in Los Angeles and bought a number of custom-made autos. Authorities estimate that a minimum of $100 million of the stolen cash stays lacking.