Crypto-related kidnappings, including an alleged Las Vegas extortion, spark concern

An alleged brazen kidnapping and cryptocurrency extortion that started in Las Vegas and ended in a remote desert area in Arizona in November has added to worry about other crypto-related violent crimes in the U.S. and around the globe in recent months.

Austin Fletcher, 16, of San Antonio, Florida, and another boy, Belal Ashraf, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, were charged last month in Las Vegas Justice Court with close to a dozen felonies each, including robbery with use of a deadly weapon and kidnapping.

The pair stalked and extorted Las Vegas cryptocurrency businessman Anthony Miller last year, Las Vegas police allege.

A third juvenile allegedly involved in the kidnapping was believed to be out of the country, sources told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The kidnapping

According to a Metropolitan Police Department report, Miller said he was at a small “cryptocurrency convention” that was scheduled around the time that many visitors would be in town for last year’s Formula One race in Las Vegas.

Following the Nov. 21 gathering, Miller told police he went home to his Las Vegas apartment. After getting out of his vehicle, he was approached by three people with guns and wearing ski masks — later identified as the alleged suspects — who forced him into the back of a Hyundai SUV.

Miller said the suspects were communicating with “someone over the phone who guided them through the kidnapping,” the report said. He said the suspects demanded his “Trezor wallet,” which is a physical device designed to hold cryptocurrency assets.

Eventually, according to the report, the robbers were able to gain access to up to $4.8 million in Ape Coin, a type of cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital assets that are often collected.

After they got what they wanted, the suspects then drove to a remote desert area in Arizona, about 26 miles from the Nevada state line, where they dropped Miller off, the report said. During the trip to the desert, Miller told police a gun was constantly pointed at him and that he worried about being shot in the stomach if the vehicle went over a bump.

After being dropped off, he told police that he then walked about 5 miles to a gas station in White Hills, Arizona, where he called his ex-girlfriend to pick him up. Miller met with police the following day to alert them of the robbery, the report said.

According to the police report, Miller seemed to notice that his kidnappers were likely inexperienced. His ex-girlfriend told police that he said the three were “trying to act hard like gangsters” and that one kidnapper’s hands were noticeably trembling.

Other crypto-related crimes

News reports of crimes targeting owners of crypto assets have surfaced around the globe in recent months.

In New York in May, a cryptocurrency investor was arrested and charged with kidnapping a man and locking him up for weeks in an effort to get his Bitcoin password, according to authorities.

A similar crime happened recently in Argentina when a Russian couple was targeted in a crypto kidnapping there, and in recent months in France, crypto kidnappings have grabbed headlines there. In one case, a man even had his finger cut off while being tortured.

And on an Associated Press story posted Thursday, the headline was, “Why ‘wrench attacks’ on wealthy crypto holders are on the rise.”

In Las Vegas last week, tens of thousands of people gathered for the Bitcoin 2025 Conference on the Strip, where, according to attendee and Las Vegas crypto businessman Jake Gallen, there was plenty of talk about the recent crimes.

“It’s becoming a more frequent event,” Gallen said. “I see it discussed on (the social media platform X) every time an event happens. This is why most people in the industry choose to be anonymous.”

Gallen, CEO of a financial tech company called Emblem Vault, said some in the crypto world make the mistake of being in the public eye too much.

“People like to flaunt their wealth in public settings, either on (X) or at meetups,” Gallen said.

According to an FBI report published in September, cryptocurrency fraud totaled over $5.6 billion in 2023, which was a nearly 50 percent increase from 2022.

Metro declined an interview request for this story, and messages from the Las Vegas Review-Journal to the Clark County district attorney’s office, the prosecuting agency for the case involving the two Florida kidnapping suspects, went unanswered.

According to an FBI spokesperson, the agency in January started a national effort called “Operation Level Up,” which aims to mainly fight fraud in the cryptocurrency arena.

Still, many crypto holders seem to be targets for thieves. As part of the first four months of “Operation Level Up,” the FBI said it had notified over 5,800 Crypto holders that they had been victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud. Nearly 80 percent, the FBI said, were unaware they were being scammed.

Because cryptocurrency — which is digital currency with no physical form — is such an anonymous form of asset, it can be much harder to track bad actors, said Daniel Chi, a professor and the chair of the Lee Business School at UNLV.

“A digital wallet, like an actual wallet, is gone once it’s gone,” Chi said. “It’s an anonymous form of currency, so I think that has emboldened some criminals. It’s harder to trace who is behind these events.”

The case against the alleged kidnappers

In Las Vegas, Ashraf and Fletcher are scheduled to appear for preliminary hearings in Las Vegas Justice Court later this month. With the help of police there, Metro tracked the Hyundai SUV to Mississippi, which led to the arrests of the teens.

According to Metro records, the three teens have also been in trouble in Florida in recent years, including a documented event at a Florida high school football game in August.

Michael Troiano, a Las Vegas attorney and counsel for Fletcher, said there’s likely more to the story.

“While (Fletcher) sits in custody, others, adults with far greater power and influence, remain free, despite their roles in shaping the event under scrutiny,” Troiano said in a text message. “The case is far more complex than it appears on the surface, and I look forward to presenting the full story in court. Austin’s voice will finally be heard, and the truth can emerge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.