Five convicted over torture of French crypto holders

Five men have been convicted for detaining and torturing two French cryptocurrency millionaires for 52 hours in an East London flat last July. The victims were ambushed in Shadwell, taken to a Canning Town apartment, beaten, stripped, bound and forced to transfer $30,000 after the gang demanded $150,000.

Prosecutors told the court the men, both in their 20s, had lifestyles widely shared on social media and may have been targeted for that reason. Jurors heard the victims were tied with tape and cable ties and had boiling water poured on them. One victim alleged sexual assault by two members of the group; the jury cleared those defendants and the allegation is protected by complainant anonymity rules.

Police traced the flat after a friend of the victims was dragged from a car and left a phone in it. Officers used the handset to locate the address. Yasir Mohamed was arrested at the victims’ Earl’s Court Airbnb while allegedly attempting to access a second cryptocurrency wallet; jurors cleared him of false imprisonment and could not agree on conspiracy to blackmail.

Gerson Borges and Mohamed Osman were convicted of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment. William Adebisi and Julius George were convicted of false imprisonment, and Isaac Bakoya admitted false imprisonment. All defendants were cleared of kidnap, possession of an imitation firearm and sexual assault. Adel Sineen, who crashed the gang’s car into a lamppost during a high-speed pursuit and later admitted dangerous driving, was cleared of false imprisonment. Police say the plot was directed from abroad by a man known as Ibrahim Mohamed, also called Nino, who remains at large.

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC described the victims’ treatment as “cold, hard torture.” Detectives secured convictions without direct testimony from either victim; both declined to give evidence in person, citing fear of the group. Detective Chief Inspector Laura Hillier described the outcome as “a rare example of a conviction of this kind being secured without victim testimony.” The court heard that three of those found guilty had previous convictions for manslaughter, robbery and possessing a handgun with ammunition. Sentencing is set for September.

Authorities said the case is part of a wider pattern of violent real-world attacks on people believed to control cryptocurrency, sometimes called “wrench attacks,” where attackers use force to seize funds or access accounts. A blockchain security firm recorded 52 such assaults worldwide in the first half of 2026, up about one-third on a year earlier; many occurred in Europe and French prosecutors have charged dozens in a recent wave. British police have also investigated high-value robberies and kidnappings linked to alleged crypto holdings. Officers continue to urge crypto owners to protect devices, keys and personal information.