Russians who stole cryptocurrency were sentenced to 2 years in prison in Thailand

A Phuket court has sentenced five citizens of a terrorist country to two years in prison for stealing cryptocurrency from a married couple (also from Russia) who were vacationing in Thailand.

Initially, the Phuket court was going to sentence the criminals to four years in prison, but then, unfortunately, cut the term in half. The reason: the defendants cooperated with the investigation and fully admitted their guilt, although they initially strongly denied any involvement in the crime.

According to the court, on January 31, 2024, the man and woman were returning home and were kidnapped. The kidnappers put the couple in a black minivan and drove them in an unknown direction. The attackers told the couple that they had to transfer money to the kidnappers' crypto wallet, «otherwise it would be bad.» The man transferred digital assets worth Z1 million baht ($ 901,200), after which the unknown men dropped the couple off somewhere on the road. All the attackers were arrested shortly afterward.