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Six men are accused of kidnapping three family members and a nanny from a Chicago townhouse in October and forcing a switch of about $15 million in cryptocurrency belongings earlier than releasing them 5 days later close to a dry cleaners, in accordance with not too long ago unsealed court docket information.
The five-day kidnapping is detailed in a 44-page FBI affidavit unsealed final week. Brokers collected proof — together with receipts, unused zip ties and surveillance footage — from rental vehicles, cryptocurrency wallets, a suburban Airbnb and numerous fast-food eating places and retail shops, court docket information present.
One of the alleged kidnappers, 34-year-old Zehuan Wei, was arrested Jan. 17 whereas attempting to enter the USA from Mexico at a California border crossing. He made an preliminary court docket look in California.
5 different men are charged with kidnapping within the case: Fan Zhang, Huajing Yan, Shengnan Jiang, Shiqiang Lian and Ye Cao. Some of them are believed to have taken flights from Mexico to China final month after Wei’s arrest, in accordance with an FBI search warrant affidavit.
The court docket information don’t say the place the suspects are from however indicated that some held U.S. drivers licenses. At the very least Zhang and Wei additionally had Chinese language passports, paperwork present.
4 individuals kidnapped
Authorities had been first notified of the kidnapping after a father, known as “Particular person A” within the affidavit, obtained a name from his son on WeChat, a Chinese language messaging app, round 1 p.m. Oct. 27 alerting him that the group had been kidnapped. The victims additionally aren’t named within the court docket information and are known as “Victims A-D.”
The person’s son, who had moved right into a Chicago townhouse a pair weeks prior, advised him he was kidnapped with two of his family members and a nanny and that the abductors demanded a ransom fee or they’d be killed, the affidavit says. The abductors demanded the daddy ship Bitcoin or Ethereum, in style cryptocurrencies, in accordance with the affidavit.
A person carrying a hat and glasses had knocked on the family’s door in Chicago, claiming to have by accident broken their storage door, the victims later advised the FBI after they had been launched. When the door opened, a number of unknown men with weapons grabbed the family members and nanny, the affidavit says. The son advised authorities he was grabbed after getting out of the bathe.
The abductors instantly requested the son to conduct cryptocurrency transactions, and he mentioned they drove him round a number of occasions to make extra transactions, the affidavit says. They later made unbiased transactions after getting access to his accounts, totaling about $15 million in cryptocurrency belongings, in accordance with the affidavit.
The abductors put the victims right into a white Ford van and drove them for about an hour to an Airbnb in what the FBI later realized was in Forest Park, the affidavit says. After one evening, the victims had been taken to a unique home and had been ultimately launched on the afternoon of Nov. 1. They walked to a close-by dry cleaners, known as an Uber and went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the affidavit says.
The son mentioned he was hit on the pinnacle with a gun — which he later mentioned might have been faux — however that in any other case they had been handled advantageous, the affidavit mentioned. The victims remembered consuming McDonald’s, Culver’s, Subway and PF Chang’s. One of the victims additionally recalled that the suspects spoke each Mandarin and Spanish.
Surveillance footage reviewed
The FBI reviewed surveillance footage from the Forest Park Airbnb, which confirmed the alleged kidnappers arriving in a white van and speaking on a cellphone. The FBI believed, based mostly on that footage, that there have been at the very least six offenders, the affidavit says.
They in contrast the footage to Cao’s image taken by U.S. Customized’s and Border Patrol, Jiang’s Illinois driver’s license image and California driver’s license footage for Zhang, Yan, Lian and Wei.
Brokers discovered a water bottle, baby wipes and unused white zip ties inside of the white Ford van, which they tracked all the way down to a Chicago auto leasing firm. In addition they discovered DNA swabs, receipts, clothes, medical masks, cigarettes, an AirPod case and latent prints inside a white Chrysler Pacifica that Wei rented Oct. 29 in Hoffman Estates.
In addition they noticed some of the abductors in surveillance footage at a McDonald’s in far northwest suburban Hampshire, a Culver’s in Berwyn, a BP gasoline station in Oak Park and Goal shops in Streamwood and Schaumburg in the course of the kidnapping time-frame, the affidavit says. The son and a family member had been in a position to determine some of the abductors in a photograph array, in accordance with the affidavit.
By analyzing journey information, authorities realized that Wei and Zhang flew from O’Hare Worldwide Airport to Las Vegas on Nov. 1. Lian, Cao, Yan and Jiang had been believed to have left Chicago for Los Angeles the identical day, the affidavit says.
The six men had been charged Dec. 13 with kidnapping.
$9 million unaccounted for
Customs and Border Patrol arrested Wei on Jan. 17 whereas he tried to enter the USA from Mexico on the Otay Mesa, California, border crossing, in accordance with an FBI search warrant affidavit. The affidavit was filed Jan. 24 in assist of a search warrant for 2 cellphones Wei carried with him. He additionally had a California driver’s license, a Chinese language passport and $661 in money.
The FBI later realized that Jiang and Yan had boarded the identical flight departing Tijuana, Mexico, for Beijing, at about 8:30 a.m. Jan. 19. Lian boarded a flight from Tijuana to Beijing the subsequent morning, the affidavit says.
About $9 million of the cryptocurrency stays unaccounted for, in accordance with the affidavit.
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