Eco-activist paid ransomware 1.4 million baht in bitcoins

by in Cryptocurrency News

Bitcoin ransomware Mark Cheng

Avelife's cofounder of social and environmental projects in Singapore, Mark Cheng, has been abducted by a business partner in Thailand. The extortionist demanded a ransom of 1.4 million Thai baht (about $46 thousand), writes The New Paper.

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On January 9, Cheng, along with his colleague Lee Wei Kim, arrived at Bangkok International Airport, from where they took a taxi to Chachoengsao Province. However, when they stopped at a gas station, masked men ran up to the car and forcibly transplanted them into a black Ford Ranger. Subsequently, it turned out that this pickup belongs to Thai actor Chano Pemberger.

He was pumped with drugs and tortured, being transported from place to place until he paid a ransom in cryptocurrency. After that, he managed to escape.

On January 12, police determined that it was Lee Wei Kim who organized the abduction. He was detained and charged with robbery, assault, illegal detention and possession of firearms. Kim pleaded guilty on all counts. The police managed to return most of the ransom.

Chano Pemberger is also under investigation.

It is noteworthy that last year the Singapore police accused Mark Cheng of misappropriating more than $300,000 owned by one of the investment companies and released him on bail.

In 2016, Cheng received an award from the hands of Queen Elizabeth II for a project that allowed older people to exchange recyclable materials for products.

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Recall that in December 2019, pseudo-FSB officers, under the threat of torture, stole 55 million rubles in cryptocurrency from a trader from St. Petersburg.