Paris (France) (AFP) – The new national anti-organized crime prosecutor's office (Pnaco) announced to AFP on Wednesday that it was taking up the investigation into the kidnapping and sequestration of a Grenoble magistrate, against a backdrop of an increasing number of cases of demands for ransoms in cryptocurrencies.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 11:53

Six people, including a minor, were arrested last weekend in this case, Lyon public prosecutor Thierry Dran said on Sunday. Two suspects were arrested in Savoie on Saturday evening while trying to take a bus to Spain, according to a source close to the case.

In this type of case, police custody can last up to 96 hours. They must end this Wednesday morning with a presentation to a judge in Paris at midday, according to the close source.

The two victims, aged 35 and 67, were found injured on Friday in a garage in Drôme after having been held captive for around thirty hours.

“They were able to take advantage of the absence of their captors to break away” and call for help by tapping on the door of the garage where they were locked up, in Bourg-les-Valence, Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran detailed on Friday.

“Alert by the noise, a neighbor then intervened. He was able to open the door and thus allow our two victims to escape,” he added.

The magistrate, who works in Grenoble, was kidnapped Thursday around 2:50 a.m. from her home in Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux (Isère), near Grenoble, with her mother.

His companion, “partner in a start-up which has cryptocurrency activities”, was absent during the kidnapping. He notified the police around 9:30 a.m. Thursday after receiving a message from the kidnappers, threatening to mutilate the victims if a ransom payment in cryptocurrencies was not quickly made,” according to Mr. Dran, who refused to specify the amount requested.

No ransom was paid, he added.

Black Series

Police officers and magistrates were cautious on Sunday about the profile of those in custody, presented by several media as executioners, in particular petty criminals recruited on social networks.

“The investigation will show that it is far too early to draw any conclusions,” Mr. Dran commented on this subject.

Kidnappings, sometimes spectacular, against demands for ransom or theft of cryptocurrencies have increased since the beginning of 2025 throughout France, in parallel with the popularity of these assets.

The national anti-organized crime prosecutor's office has already taken up at the end of January six cases of kidnapping or sequestration by an organized gang, linked to cryptocurrency extortion. Acts, accompanied by aggravated violence, committed between December 18 and January 14 in Charente-Maritime, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine and Haute-Savoie.

The Pnaco reported “damage estimated at several million euros” and stressed that some of the victims had “suffered significant violence”.

Among these files is the kidnapping of a couple in Dompierre-sur-Mer, in Charente-Maritime, by three hooded people who forced their victims to transfer them around eight million euros in cryptocurrencies.

The black series of kidnappings began in January 2025 with the kidnapping of the co-founder of Ledger (cryptocurrency wallet start-up), David Balland, and his partner. The latter, whose finger had been severed by the criminals, was freed thanks to an assault by the GIGN, while his partner was found tied up in a vehicle by the gendarmes. Six men and a woman were subsequently indicted, while the alleged instigator was indicted in April and imprisoned.

On May 1, in the middle of Paris, the father of a man who made his fortune in cryptocurrencies was also kidnapped by four hooded men. What followed was 58 hours of anguish for the family and ordeal for the hostage, whose finger was severed, following a first ultimatum set by the kidnappers who demanded a ransom of several million euros in cryptocurrencies. The man was eventually released by the police.

© 2026 AFP

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