Four men in Ukraine were arrested for murdering a 29-year-old foreign national after stealing their bitcoin on midnight, July 29. The Ukrainian Police stated that the men, ranging in age between 24 and 29, walked away with around 2.55 bitcoin worth 7 million Ukrainian hryvnias, around $170,000, after launching their assault.
A translated version of the statement about the arrests read, “Four men aged 24 to 29 carefully prepared a plan to kidnap the victim. Having seized the latter’s money, which is almost 7 million hryvnias, the accomplices killed the man and buried the body in the forest. The actions of the defendants are classified as a robbery attack, kidnapping and murder of a person for selfish reasons and concealment of a crime.”
The alleged murderers beat the foreign man in his residential compound and him into a car, which the neighbors noticed and reported. They then drove to a forest where the murder occurred, and the victim’s body was buried. “There, they forced the victim to transfer bitcoins to their crypto wallet, after which they strangled the man,” the statement said.
The suspects also changed how the car looked and its number plates to avoid being tracked down by the police. They changed the stolen bitcoin into cash, specifically US Dollars and Euros, before their arrest. The police seized the cash alongside “a car and other material evidence from the detainees.”
Prosecutors will try the accused on charges based on “Clause 6, Part 2, Art. 115 – deliberate murder for selfish motives,” “Part 4 of Art. 187 – robbery attack,” “Part 3 of Art. 146 – illegal deprivation of liberty committed by an organized group of persons,” and “Part 1 of Art. 396 – concealment of a crime.” All four arrested for the murder can possibly receive life sentences.
