Photo credit: CBC
Toronto police are investigating the kidnapping of the CEO of cryptocurrency company WonderFi Technologies Inc., who was allegedly abducted in Toronto on Wednesday evening and held for ransom.
The Globe and Mail reports that officers were called about a kidnapping at University Avenue and Richmond Street in downtown Toronto shortly before 6 pm, according to Toronto Police Service.
Dean Skurka was forced into a vehicle by unknown suspects who demanded money. But he was later found safe and uninjured in Etobicoke, about a 23-kilometre drive west.
Although the police statement did not name Mr. Skurka, a person with knowledge of the cast confirmed to The Globe that the WonderFi president and chief executive officer was the victim.
CBC first identified Mr. Skurka and reported that a $1 million ransom had been paid electronically.
WonderFi spokesperson Charlie Aikenhead said the company is cooperating with the police investigation.
Kidnapping incidents involving cryptocurrencies are not uncommon in Toronto.
An investor who described himself as the “crypto King”, Aiden Pleterski, was allegedly kidnapped by four men in late 2022. He was tortured and driven to various locations around the city, according to bankruptcy documents.
22-year-old Wanzen LU, a Chinese exchange student, was abducted from a condominium complex in Markham in 2019. according to police, he was approached from behind in an underground lot by three men who shocked him with a stun gun and forced him into a vehicle. He was found three days later more than 150 kilometres away in Gravenhurst.
The captors were arrested, with the lead suspect bagging a four-year prison sentence.
