French authorities have reportedly rescued the co-founder of hardware wallet firm Ledger and his wife after they were kidnapped and held for ransom.

According to a new article by The New York Times, Dave Balland and his wife were abducted from their home in France earlier this week by bad actors who then contacted another founder of the company and demanded a large amount of crypto for their release.

The report says that Balland was found and released by police on Wednesday about 30 miles away from his home while his wife was found 80 miles away tied up in a car a day later.

His wife was unharmed but Balland had to be hospitalized due to his hand being mutilated by the kidnappers – a photo of which was used to pressure Ledger into paying the ransom.

In the report, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that during the negotiations, some of the ransom was paid but that the assets were tracked, frozen and seized.

As stated by Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier on the social media platform X,

“We are deeply relieved that David and his wife have been released, and are now safe. I have reached out to David, and our thoughts continue to be with him, his family, and the members of our team that worked with David while he was at Ledger. We’re grateful to law enforcement for their swift action. Our top priority was always to allow law enforcement to do their jobs and protect the integrity of the investigation.”

Nine men and one woman, aged between 20 and 40, were arrested and questioned about the kidnapping, though no other details about the suspects were released. In the report, Beccaua says that the crimes of kidnapping, torture and armed extortion carry potential life sentences.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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A Manhattan hearing today saw Terraform Labs co-founder, Do Kwon, deny charges tied to the TerraUSD collapse.

Do Kwon, the co-founder the co-founder of Terraform Labs, pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud charges in a Manhattan federal court on Thursday after being extradited from Montenegro, according to Reuters.

The charges stem from his role in the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, which erased an estimated $40 billion in market value in 2022.

Do Kwon ‘misled’ investors

Federal prosecutors allege that Kwon misled investors about TerraUSD’s stability, claiming in 2021 that its value was maintained by a proprietary algorithm. Prosecutors assert that Kwon secretly used a high-frequency trading firm to artificially sustain the stablecoin’s $1 peg, according to Reuters. 

The indictment includes charges of securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

The charges follow a turbulent year for Kwon, who fled as the Terra blockchain collapse triggered a wave of bankruptcies, including high-profile firms like Three Arrows Capital. 

Interpol issued a Red Notice for his capture, and he was arrested in Montenegro in March 2024 while attempting to board a flight with forged passports.

Montenegro’s Justice Minister recently approved Kwon’s extradition to the United States, ending months of legal wrangling between the U.S. and South Korea, both of which sought to prosecute him. Although Kwon now faces significant legal challenges in the U.S., South Korean authorities continue their investigation, which could lead to a 40-year prison sentence if convicted.

Kwon’s next court appearance is expected to outline further proceedings. His case remains a central topic in discussions about accountability within the cryptocurrency industry.

Incarcerated former FTX executive Ryan Salame appears to have already slashed a year off his prison sentence.

Data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons indicates Salame’s release date is now March 1st, 2031. The former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets reported to prison in October after being sentenced to 7.5 years behind bars, meaning he was initially scheduled for release around April 2032.

Salame pled guilty last year to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission (FEC), as well as conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

In May, District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced the former executive to 7.5 years behind bars, but a legal dust-up over the indictment of the mother of his child, Michelle Bond, delayed the start of his prison term.

FTX imploded and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 amid accusations that founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried mishandled the exchange’s funds by loaning out billions of dollars worth of customer deposits to Alameda Research, the firm’s trading arm, to make risky crypto bets that went awry.

The exchange’s multi-billion dollar collapse led to a sharp downtick in crypto prices, and US federal authorities arrested Bankman-Fried the following month. In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

He also ordered the 32-year-old to pay $11 billion in forfeiture. Bankman-Fried is appealing his conviction and sentence.

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