A Chinese student who was allegedly kidnapped in Australia as apart of a $1.27 million bitcoin ransom has been found “safe and well.”
According to the report Ye Jingwang, a Chinese student studying abroad in Sydney, went missing two weeks ago and was held ransom in a kidnapping for $1.27 million in bitcoin. The New South Wales (NSW) Police claim that the student has been found “safe and well” as of Sept. 4.
NSW Police said that the alleged kidnappers were asking for 80 BTC in return for Jingwang, or else he would incur an “accident.” The kidnappers sent video footage to the family of the student, showing Mr. Jingwang bound and bloodied. An additional video was sent featuring the victim begging for his family to rescue him.
While a Chinese-language outlet claims that the victim’s family arrived in Syndey over the weekend, NSW Police were unable to confirm whether the ransom was actually paid.
Instead they released a statement notifying the public that Mr. Jingwang had gone missing on Aug. 23, and that investigators were able to locate him on Sept. 1,
In addition, an NSW Police spokeswoman said,
“He has since been reunited with his family. No arrests or charges have been laid at this stage and investigations are continuing. No further information is available.”
Australian Bitcoin Ransoms
Unfortunately, Mr. Jingwang’s predicament is not the first time Australia has had to deal with a bitcoin-ransomed kidnapping. Last year Australian Federal Police issued a warning over a series of complex scams that involved Chinese families of students studying abroad being falsely coerced into paying for the safe return of their loved ones.
