Phuket –
A group of Russian men allegedly threatened a Russian couple and took them onto a van against their will to try to extort them for 30 million Baht in Bitcoins in Phuket.
The Police Hotline 191 was notified of the incident on Wednesday night (January 31st) at the Lor Rong Intersection in the Talad Yai sub-district of Phuket Town. A Russian couple whose names were withheld for their protection told Thai police that there was a group of Russians who took them onto a van against their will. The suspects then threatened the couple to transfer 30 million baht in Bitcoins to them. They were afraid that those Russians would attack them if they did not participate.
The victims agreed to do what the suspects wanted and after they transferred the funds, they were released from the van one kilometer from the scene. They were not injured. The Russian couple then filed an official report to Phuket police.
The couple told Phuket police that they had never met the Russian suspects before and that they were just tourists who arrived in Phuket in the middle of last month. The Region 8 Police are hunting for the suspects but also investigating to determine how the suspects knew the victims had a significant amount of Bitcoin and why the victims were seemingly specifically targeted.
