TechFlow News — On February 13, according to the Chicago Tribune, recently released court documents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that six suspects kidnapped a family of three and their nanny in Chicago in October 2024, forcing the victims to transfer approximately $15 million worth of cryptocurrency assets.
The suspects broke into a townhouse under the pretense of performing home repairs, then used firearms to take the family and their nanny hostage. Over a five-day captivity, the victims were subjected to physical threats and forced to carry out multiple cryptocurrency transfers totaling $15 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies. The victims were eventually released after five days. One of them managed to contact their father via WeChat, leading to the alerting of authorities. To date, U.S. law enforcement has recovered only about $6 million.
One suspect, 34-year-old Zehuan Wei, was arrested on January 17 at the California-Mexico border. The other five suspects—Fan Zhang, Huajing Yan, Shengnan Jiang, Shiqiang Lian, and Ye Cao—remain at large. Some of them reportedly flew from Mexico to China last month. The FBI stated that around $9 million worth of cryptocurrency remains unaccounted for.
