After crypto, gold: a trader sequestered for 18 days and stripped of 500,000 euros in Montpellier

Eighteen days in a room with closed shutters. Kidnappers kidnapped a sixty-year-old gold trader from Montpellier on September 4. The BIS released him on September 22. In the meantime, they took his stock of metal, his old coins and part of his accounts. The damage is approaching 500,000 euros. The scenario resembles that of crypto-kidnappings which are increasing in France. However, no bitcoin appears in the file.

Gold trader trapped by fake order

Midi Libre revealed the affair this Tuesday, October 6. It all starts with a meeting. A client of the professional promises him a large order of jewelry and offers to follow her by car. The journey stops at a house in Mauguio, east of Montpellier. There, they hit him, then took his briefcase, his computer and his keys. The same night, his captors took him, his head under a bag, to a pavilion in Plaissan, in the Hérault hinterland. He will remain locked there with one meal a day.

Meanwhile, the gang helps itself. A man with keys and badges empties the offices and the safe in the Millénaire district. To the neighbors, he explains that the boss suffered a stroke and will not return. The gang then searches the home. Then several tens of thousands of euros leave the bank accounts by transfer. In total, the bill reaches almost 500,000 euros.

Gold trader saved by missed meeting in Antwerp

No one raises the alarm for thirteen days. On September 17, a precious metals professional based in Antwerp finally sounded the alarm. His colleague from Montpellier missed an important meeting. The Montpellier judicial police then discovered emptied offices and returned accommodation. The missing person's phone is also limited to Paris, a city where he almost never goes. Samples taken from the premises identify a first suspect. His telephone line then led investigators to Mauguio, then to Plaissan.

On September 22, the BIS entered the pavilion. The police arrested two young women responsible for guarding. They found the hostage alive, but exhausted and scarred by blows. “We were convinced that we were going to find him dead,” confides a judicial source to the regional daily. Investigators then arrested the alleged sponsor and an accomplice in Paris. The customer who served as bait was one of the two women arrested. On October 6, she assured the Montpellier Court of Appeal that she had acted under duress. His lawyer, Me Rémi Bertrand, confirms this version.

From crypto to gold, the same monkey wrench

Replace the bars with a seed phrase, the sequence of words that opens a crypto wallet. You then obtain a news item that has become commonplace in France. The national anti-organized crime prosecutor's office has in fact recorded more than 70 kidnappings and kidnappings linked to cryptocurrencies, according to franceinfo. This count covers the first eight months of 2026. The crypto community calls this method the “wrench attack”. No point hacking anything when you can threaten the owner.

This violence is often presented as a defect specific to bitcoin. However, nothing indicates that the Montpellier merchant held any. He still spent eighteen days locked up. Gold had it all. An ounce was worth around $4,100 on October 5. A one-kilo ingot therefore trades for around 121,000 euros, enough to fit a fortune in a briefcase. A bitcoin transfer remains visible for life on the blockchain (the public register of the network). Conversely, a melted piece leaves little trace.