Five Convicted in 52-Hour Torture and Blackmail of French Crypto Millionaires in London

Five convicted over brutal blackmail and false imprisonment of two French crypto millionaires in London Five men have been convicted for their roles in the blackmail and false imprisonment of two French cryptocurrency millionaires who were held for 52 hours in an East London flat last July, a case prosecutors described in court as “cold, hard torture.” What happened - The victims, both men in their 20s, were ambushed in Shadwell and driven to a flat in Canning Town. Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC told Inner London Crown Court their lifestyles had been “widely published on social media” and may have attracted unwanted attention. - Jurors heard that during the 52-hour ordeal the pair were stripped, bound with tape and cable ties, beaten and subjected to boiling water being poured over them. The gang demanded $150,000; the victims managed to transfer $30,000. - One victim alleged sexual assault by two members of the group. Those accused were cleared by the jury; the allegation nonetheless engages victim-protection laws and the victims cannot be identified. How police broke the case - A friend dragged from the car left his phone inside, which enabled police to trace the flat by the handset’s location. Officers later arrested one suspect, Yasir Mohamed, at the victims’ Earl’s Court Airbnb after he drove there in an attempt to access a second wallet. - Ibrahim “Nino” Mohamed, who police say directed the plot from abroad, has not been arrested. Verdicts and legal fallout - Gerson Borges and Mohamed Osman were convicted of conspiracy to blackmail and false imprisonment. - William Adebisi and Julius George were convicted of false imprisonment; Isaac Bakoya admitted false imprisonment. - Yasir Mohamed was cleared of false imprisonment and jurors could not reach a verdict on conspiracy to blackmail in his case. - Adel Sineen, who crashed the gang’s car into a lamppost during a high-speed pursuit, was cleared of false imprisonment but admitted dangerous driving. - All defendants were cleared of kidnap, possessing an imitation firearm and sexual assault. - Defence barristers argued the Frenchmen had come to east London to buy cannabis and that some demands were legitimate; prosecutors rejected that account, pointing to aggressive threats made to the Airbnb. - Detective Chief Inspector Laura Hillier said the conviction was “a rare example of a conviction of this kind being secured without victim testimony.” Context and wider trend - The court heard that three of those found guilty had previous convictions for manslaughter, robbery and possessing a handgun with ammunition. - The case forms part of an escalating pattern of “wrench attacks” — violent, real-world assaults targeting crypto holders — reported around the world. Blockchain security firm CertiK verified 52 such attacks in the first half of 2026, up roughly a third from a year earlier; 39 occurred in Europe, 33 in France, with recorded exposure of $124.1 million. French prosecutors have charged 88 people in connection with a wave of such incidents there. - The UK has seen its own high-profile incidents recently, including three teenagers jailed over a $4.3 million knife-point robbery in Hoxton and the conviction of four men over the kidnapping of a Belgian barber believed (wrongly) to hold a Bitcoin fortune. Next steps - Sentencing for the six defendants (including Sineen) is scheduled for September. Ibrahim “Nino” Mohamed remains at large. Authorities and the court have stressed the sensitive nature of the victims’ identities and declined to publish them.