A court in Brussels has sent three men to prison for 12 years each. They were found guilty of kidnapping the wife of a well-known Belgian crypto investor named Stéphane Winkel. The kidnapping happened on December 20, 2024, right outside the couple’s home in Forest, a neighborhood in Brussels.
The three men pushed Winkel’s wife into a van with French license plates and drove away quickly. They were planning to ask for a ransom in cryptocurrency. Winkel called the police right away, and officers chased the van across the country.
After a long car chase, the police pushed the van off the road near Bruges and arrested the three men inside. A teenager who helped with the plan is being handled by a youth court. The kidnappers told the court that they were forced to do it by people who had threatened to kill them.
However, the judges did not believe this story. They said it was a serious crime that was clearly planned in advance. The court also told the three men to pay over 1 million euros in damages to the victim and her family.
After the kidnapping, Winkel and his wife were reportedly scared. They moved to a new place for safety. According to the local reports, his wife has not been able to return to work. Winkel wrote about the incident in a long tweet in January, “I now realize that safety must become an absolute priority for me and those around me.”
Winkel is known for his YouTube channel and crypto education platforms like Crypto Académie. He used to appear on camera often to teach people about cryptocurrency. But after the kidnapping, he stopped making videos for a while. In June, he returned to YouTube, but this time using only voice recordings and no video.
This is not the only crypto kidnapping case in Europe. In January 2025, French police rescued Ledger co-founder David Balland after kidnappers cut off one of his fingers. In another case, three men tried to kidnap the daughter and grandson of crypto CEO Pierre Noizat in Paris. The family fought back and escaped.
In Estonia, Australian crypto billionaire Tim Heath bit off a kidnapper’s finger to break free. In New York, another crypto investor was tortured for 17 days. He was shocked with electricity and hung from the ceiling until he gave up his wallet passwords.
Police believe criminal gangs are using online content to find crypto targets. In June, Interpol and Moroccan police caught Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, who is linked to several attacks. Still, some suspects in the other cases are still walking free, but investigations are going on.
Also Read: Kidnappers Demand Ledger Access in Paris Crypto Theft Case
