Three Florida teenagers are accused of kidnapping a Las Vegas man at gunpoint, driving him to a remote desert area in Arizona, and then stealing $4 million in cryptocurrency and other digital assets, according to reports.
KLAS-TV reported that Belal Ashraf and Austin Fletcher — both 16 years old and from Pasco County in Florida — were charged last week with robbery, kidnapping, and extortion. A juvenile court judge ruled that Ashraf and Fletcher could be charged as adults. A unnamed third teenager reportedly avoided capture.
‘Law enforcement said the three teens were previously involved in disturbances together at a high school in Florida.’
Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Daniel Westmeyer set bail at $4 million for each suspect.
At a Tuesday hearing, Ashraf’s attorney argued that his client should be placed under house arrest. Judge Noreen Demonte approved the request, ordering Ashraf’s release with electronic monitoring, according to court records.
What allegedly went down?
The alleged victim was hosting a cryptocurrency-related event at a business in downtown Las Vegas, according to police.
L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Ashraf, Fletcher, and the third unnamed teenager reportedly approached the alleged victim at his apartment complex after he parked his vehicle. The three suspects forced the man at gunpoint into the back seat of their vehicle, according to a police report.
“[The alleged victim] was told if he complied, he would live to see another day, and if he did not comply, they had his dad and would kill him,” court documents read. “[The alleged victim] had a towel placed over his head and was told by the suspects not to look at them.”
The alleged victim claimed that he heard a fourth person talking to the kidnappers on the phone with the speaker on.
Police said the teenagers demanded that the alleged victim provide them with usernames and passwords for his financial accounts, which he reportedly furnished.
The teens are believed to have driven the alleged victim across the Nevada border to White Hills, Arizona — which is over 70 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
The alleged victim was kicked out of the kidnappers’ car in a remote desert area.
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According to court documents, the alleged victim had to walk approximately five miles to a gas station, where he phoned a friend to pick him up.
The three suspects are accused of stealing $4 million in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, according to prosecutors.
Vladimir Vladimirov via iStock / Getty Images
Investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reportedly tracked down the kidnappers’ vehicle and determined that it was driven from Florida to Nevada.
Ashraf and Fletcher were arrested. However, the third teenager reportedly avoided capture. During Fletcher’s probable cause hearing Friday, a prosecutor said law enforcement believes the third suspect fled the United States.
Anything else?
Police said the three teens previously were involved in disturbances together at a Florida high school.
According to court documents, the teenagers once screamed at an assistant principal and “were reported as swearing in English and Arabic, and [Ashraf] was observed shoulder-checking a school resource officer.”
The FBI allegedly assisted in the investigation.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June.
You can watch a local newscast about the cryptocurrency heist from KLAS-TV here.
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Heist, Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency heist, Florida, Florida crime, Las vegas, Las vegas crime, Crime, Nevada, Arizona, Arrests, Teenagers
