In a case described by local media as worthy of a Hollywood movie, an individual was kidnapped by fake policemen in Brazil in order to steal his cryptocurrency stash. Rodrigo Perez, a Spanish businessman linked to several financial crimes in Paraguay and Ecuador, was detained by individuals using fake police uniforms on March 24 in São Paulo.

The fake policemen used an official-looking truck to transport the prisoner to a location used as a makeshift prison, where he was kept for five days, tied to a bed, drugged with sleeping pills, and subjected to harassment.

Perez managed to escape by gaining the trust of his captors. According to local media, he drugged the man assigned to watch him with the same sleeping drugs used on him.

However, when notifying authorities about his kidnapping, they discovered that Perez was indeed wanted by Interpol for his alleged participation in a series of crypto-linked schemes in Latin America. Perez told authorities that the kidnappers had taken close to $50 million in cryptocurrency from him.

Ronaldo Batista, a retired military policeman, was arrested when authorities raided the location where Perez was held. Batista confessed to his participation in Perez’s kidnapping, while the second kidnapper remains at large.

Authorities are not ruling out the possibility of gang involvement, given Perez’s alleged history of financial fraud. The fate of Perez after this kidnapping is uncertain, as authorities are still treating him as a victim but are also aware of his alleged participation in schemes in other countries.

Perez’s kidnapping marks an increase in the prevalence of $5 wrench attack cases in the crypto industry. This modus operandi has become more popular lately, as cryptocurrency has gone mainstream, and bad actors are increasingly aware of its existence.

Read more: Grand Theft Crypto: Family Kidnapped for $15 Million Ransom in Chicago

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