Crypto Co‑Founder’s Wife Targeted in French Kidnap Plot
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Sébastien Borget' wife was ambushed at the family home in Villenoy, Seine‑et‑Marne, when a disguised deliveryman opened the gate and five accomplices tried to pull her into a Citroën C3 before neighbors stopped them.
- Two teenagers—Mateo V. (born 2010) and Walid H. (born 2009) from Pantin—were arrested carrying a fake handgun, zip‑tie restraints and balaclavas, and charged with the kidnapping attempt.
- Four other suspects remain at large, according to police sources.
- France has seen a surge in crypto‑related kidnappings, with 135 attempts recorded since 2023—about 80% of European cases—and 41 attempts just this year, prompting a judicial investigation involving 88 suspects across 12 cases.
Why it matters: Crypto executives now face heightened personal‑security costs, as the French wave of 135 crypto‑kidnapping attempts since 2023 forces firms to allocate resources for protection and pushes authorities to intensify investigations.
