Report: Hong Kong police rescue 1 teenager in cryptocurrency-related attack, 3 suspects arrested

The victim was attacked with a baseball bat for cryptocurrency profits.

Last month, Hong Kong authorities captured three teenagers and successfully rescued a 19-year-old victim who had been subjected to a horrific experience of assault and illegal detention.

Police are aggressively pursuing six other individuals suspected of involvement, including four men and two women.

Hong Kong teen attacked for crypto profits

According to the South China Morning Post, victims were lured under the guise of meeting people and trading crypto assets. However, when he arrived at a room at Harbour Grand Kowloon on Tak Fung Street, the suspect demanded that he hand over HK$180,000 (about US$23,000) in cryptocurrency trading profits.

Subsequently, two of the nine suspects at the scene threatened and beat the victim with a baseball bat.

The 19-year-old victim managed to reach out for help to a friend, who then notified law enforcement. Six suspects in connection with the case fled the scene, but police arrested two of them outside the hotel. Another person was detained inside the hotel.

An insider was quoted as saying:

"The victim was allegedly detained when he went there to meet nine suspects (seven men and two women). The gang demanded that he pay HK$180,000 in profits from virtual currency trading. ”

The arrested suspects are between the ages of 16 and 19 and face charges including assault, unlawful detention and extortion, according to the Kowloon City Anti-Gang Operatives in charge of the case.

Over the past three years, the Hong Kong authorities have witnessed a significant rise in digital asset-related crimes in Hong Kong. The number of reported cases increased from 1,397 to 3,415, and the amount involved increased from HK$824 million to HK$4,398 million, indicating an almost threefold increase in incidents during the same period.

Crypto Crime Wave

Cryptocurrency crime has also wreaked havoc around the world. In May last year, six people in the Indian state of Maharashtra faced charges for allegedly kidnapping, torturing and blackmailing a man who failed to provide a return on investment. The victim alleges that the defendant forcibly arranged a deed of sale for his apartment in order to recover the funds and transfer his property to their name.

In South Korea, Lee Kyung-woo, a former spy-turned-professional hitman, was sentenced to life in prison in October for a kidnapping case involving a cryptocurrency dispute. In this case, he kidnapped a woman in an upscale neighborhood in Seoul and subsequently injected her with a lethal dose of ketamine obtained from a plastic surgery hospital.

The couple, who lost at least 1 billion won ($760,000) in cryptocurrency investments, hired Lee, who allegedly disguised himself as a former undercover agent to get rid of the woman who encouraged them to invest and steal her digital assets.

In another shocking case, a 23-year-old cryptocurrency miner was kidnapped outside his home on Christmas Day in Izhevsk, Russia. The kidnappers took him to an undisclosed location and contacted his brother via Telegram for a ransom of more than 15 million rubles. The kidnappers also threatened to frame the victim for drug possession and hand him over to the authorities if their demands were not met.