Toronto/CMEDIA: Toronto crypto company CEO was kidnapped and held for ransom in downtown Toronto during rush hour Wednesday.
Just before 6 p.m., Police were called about a kidnapping in the area of University Avenue and Richmond Street W., says a spokesperson with the Toronto Police Service.
The suspects forced the victim into a vehicle and made a demand for money, the spokesperson said.
The man was later located in Centennial Park in Etobicoke uninjured.
The victim is reportedly Dean Skurka, the president and CEO of Toronto-based financial firm WonderFi.
He was released following a ransom of $1 million payment electronically, a source close to the investigation said.
Skurka said on Thursday that he had been involved in an “incident” Wednesday but is safe.
“The safety and security of all of WonderFi’s employees are paramount,” Skurka said in the email. “Client funds and data remain safe, and were not impacted by this incident.”
Police have not released any further details and said the investigation is ongoing.
Physical thefts designed to steal cryptocurrency for around a decade had been tracked by Jameson Lopp, the co-founder and chief security officer of Casa, a security firm focused on protecting cryptocurrency users.
Skurka’s abduction, said Lopp, was the 171st instance of suspects using physical violence to steal bitcoins.
The rates of these kinds of incidents tend to correspond to the exchange rate of bitcoin, he said.
“As the price goes up…more criminally minded people decide they want to try to figure out what the ROI of executing a physical attack against a known crypto holder is.”
With a surge above $75,000 US, the price of bitcoin hit a new high Wednesday after Donald Trump’s victory in the US President Election 2024 smashing its previous record set in March.
The nature of cryptocurrency can make physical thefts and/or extortion of users more appealing to criminals than other types of theft like robbing a bank, Lopp said.
“They [cryptocurrencies] are incredibly easy to transport…take possession of from someone in comparison to a bank or an armoured truck…The average crypto person…who may be multi-millionaires…often they don’t have great operational security or privacy.”
The victims in the majority of these crimes are average citizens, he said.
“This particular incident is not something that many people have to worry…even a lot of high profile figures…with their risk profile.”
The alleged kidnapping occurred the same day WonderFi released its third quarter earnings results, showing a 153 percent increase compared to its third quarter in 2023.
