Canadian man forced into hiding after alleged bitcoin kidnapping and torture attempt: report

A crypto forum moderator and father of four claims to have been forced into hiding after falling victim to an alleged kidnapping and torture attempt to steal his bitcoin. 

The Canadian man, who was not named to protect the identity of his children, said police told him they couldn’t keep his family safe and they should relocate as the alleged attackers may be linked to organized crime, La Presse reported on Monday. The family apparently decided to keep moving from one Airbnb to another since then, living off savings.

Two adults have been arrested on charges of conspiracy to kidnap and possession of prohibited firearms, with police reports and release orders supporting the case, according to the media outlet. Two juvenile suspects were also arrested. However, the alleged attackers, with no criminal record, were released under house arrest pending trial in March, leaving the family fearing for their safety.

“It’s part of police work to meet victims and explain to them that we cannot ensure their safety 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” a Sûreté du Québec police spokesperson told the outlet, without commenting directly on the matter.

The bail decision surprised University of Montreal criminologist Chloé Leclerc, La Presse reported. However, the deputy director of the International Center for Comparative Criminology said that house arrest of suspects is a fairly restrictive condition of release, adding that in the Canadian criminal justice system, where the presumption of innocence prevails, incarceration while awaiting trial should, in principle, be the exception.

‘They had equipment to torture me’

“The guys had equipment to torture me,” the man told La Presse, according to a translation of the report. “They had a 2 foot by 2 foot tarp with a hole in the middle, and claws around it, to cut off a limb and stop the bleeding. It’s incredibly violent,” he said.

The ordeal began in early November 2024 when two masked men allegedly approached his home suspiciously before fleeing after he closed the door on them. Days later, the man spotted hooded suspects in a car near his house while he was taking his daughter to daycare. The man later reportedly found himself behind the vehicle on a main road and was on the phone to the police before it suddenly swerved. The driver of the vehicle approached him, then another pointed a handgun at him, prompting him to use pepper spray in self-defense, he said.

Police investigations reportedly revealed that the attackers somehow believed the man owned 2.5 million BTC based on his social media activity — a sum worth billions of dollars — though the victim clarified that his bitcoin holdings were only worth around $10,000.