Former Ukrainian police colonels are accused of turning their law-enforcement experience into a violent extortion racket targeting crypto entrepreneurs, prosecutors say — part of a growing global trend of so-called “wrench attacks,” in which attackers use force or the threat of force to steal digital assets. What prosecutors say happened - The Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office says it has finished a pre-trial probe into a group that included four former police officers and one previously convicted civilian. The suspects have not yet been formally charged. - Two retired colonels allegedly led the ring, recruiting active colleagues and a civilian accomplice. Prosecutors say several members had served in the Main Police Department in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia since 2014) and in a Kyiv-based unit. All were dismissed after their arrests. - Authorities allege the group operated as an organized armed gang, committing kidnapping, illegal imprisonment, robbery, extortion, and unlawful drug possession. At least four crypto entrepreneurs are named as victims who were tracked, abducted at gunpoint, held, forced to hand over money and sign documents acknowledging fabricated debts. - In one detailed case in Kyiv, prosecutors say a victim was abducted, coerced into signing a fake $5 million “debt” and shuttled between multiple secret locations. - The gang reportedly exploited official resources and skills — using police vehicles, posing as officers, coordinating roles, and communicating via encrypted messengers — to carry out the scheme. The investigation was closed in November 2025 and the materials have been forwarded to court. Why this matters for crypto holders - Experts and incident data underscore a worrying pattern: cryptography and wallet security mean little when coercion, violence or impersonation by authority figures are used to extract assets. - David Sehyeon Baek, a cybercrime consultant, told Decrypt that crypto’s speed and cross-border transferability make it uniquely vulnerable under duress. He warned that in high-corruption or conflict-affected environments, extortion can look like “a distorted abuse of state authority,” and that entrepreneurs must treat personal security, jurisdictional risk, legal backup and operational secrecy as seriously as wallet security. Global context and rising trend - Wrench attacks are on the rise. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported 72 verified wrench-attack incidents in 2025 — a 75% increase year-over-year — with confirmed losses exceeding $40.9 million. - High-profile cases include the March conviction of former LAPD officer Eric Halem, who was found guilty of kidnapping and robbery after officers-posing attackers seized $350,000 in Bitcoin from a 17-year-old in Los Angeles. That same month, attackers in Versailles allegedly forced a couple at knifepoint to transfer roughly $1 million in Bitcoin. - French authorities have also moved aggressively: investigators charged 88 suspects (including more than 10 minors) following a spike of violent crypto kidnappings, and recorded 135 crypto-linked incidents since 2023. Earlier this month, six suspects — two teenagers among them — allegedly tried to kidnap the wife of Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget at their home in France. Takeaways for the crypto community - These cases illustrate a stark reality: digital asset security must go beyond private keys and multi-sig setups. Physical safety, legal strategies, careful operational practices, and awareness of local threats and corruption levels are increasingly essential for entrepreneurs and high-net-worth holders. - As law enforcement impersonation and coercive schemes become more common, exchanges, custodians, and clients should reassess personal-security protocols and crisis response plans alongside technical defenses. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news