Russian Programmer Kidnapped After Flaunting Wealth, Loses 10.4 BTC

Russian police in Ivanovo have arrested five men accused of kidnapping a crypto-holding programmer and stealing roughly 10.4 BTC, per local daily Kommersant. The suspects reportedly identified the victim, a man in his 20s, through social media posts showing luxury cars and foreign travel, then abducted him on September 6 to a garage, where they beat and threatened him before seizing 1 million rubles in cash, an iPhone, a MacBook, and transferring the BTC from his wallet to unidentified addresses. Total losses exceeded 84 million rubles, and the victim was abandoned in a forest. Investigators said suspects switched to regular phone calls after drone attacks disrupted local internet, allowing police to intercept communications and make the arrests; all five have prior felony records and face up to 15 years, with some proceeds already spent on real estate and cars. The case underscores physical ("$5 wrench") attack risk for crypto holders who flaunt wealth online, and watch for whether chain analysis recovers any of the stolen BTC.