Oregon Man Kidnapped, Beaten, and Robbed of his Cryptocurrency Wallet
Four men who allegedly beat up an Oregon resident to obtain his cryptocurrency passcode face federal charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap in the Portland U.S. District Court.
At their court appearance on Thursday, Jackson Reves (19), Justice Uallah Del Carpi (22) and Ralph Moreno Jr. (24) pleaded not guilty.
The fourth accused, Billy Cordova (24) pleaded not guilty earlier this month. The four are in the Sheridan federal detention center pending trial.
The men are said to have flown to Portland from Florida where they kidnapped a 22-year-old man and then tied him to a post in rural Washington County and proceeded to beat him to obtain the passcode to his cryptocurrency wallet.
Accused Flown from Florida to Face Charges in Portland
The four men were arrested in Florida last month and flown to Oregon to face the allegations in the Portland District Court.
Court documents reveal that the men arrived in Portland on November 8, 2023, where they rented an Airbnb in Vancouver and a ride-share car service. They allegedly watched their target’s movements at his downtown Portland apartment for two days before making their move.
On November 10, the four men allegedly kidnapped the man, forcing him into a car and driving him away, while others in the group entered his apartment to try and access is cryptocurrency passcode.
Meanwhile, the others drove the man to a field in rural Banks and tied him to a post with duct tape before repeatedly assaulting him. They then abandoned him.
Later that day, the men used the man’s passcode to transfer his cryptocurrency wallet to another location. Prosecutors have not revealed how much currency was transferred.
The Man Appeared to be Tortured
The man was found by a woman on November 11 at 8.33 a.m. who contacted the police. She told the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that the man appeared to have been tortured and was tied to a post near Old Pumpkin Ridge Road and Northwest Mountaindale Road.
The Sheriff’s Office turned the case over to the FBI and Portland police.
The FBI reports that in 2023, the most common cryptocurrency frauds reported in Oregon involved extortion and personal data breaches.
More than 69,000 complaints involving $5.6 million were lodged by the public nationwide involving cryptocurrency cyber theft and financial fraud, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
As popularity of cryptocurrency increases, criminals are using more complicated tactics to exploit and deceive the public, says Wayne A. Jacobs, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia office.