Spaniard Alleges $250M Crypto Theft in São Paulo Kidnapping

As per the local police, an intense kidnapping occurred in São Paulo during last weekend. A Spanish business person named Rodrigo Pérez Aristi Sá encountered the kidnapping while driving in São Paulo when two armed men dressed as fake Civil Police approached him on March 24 in Ipiranga. The two criminals who claimed Pérez had Interpol warrants against him bound and stuffed him into a truck displaying police plate numbers to transport him toward the Biritiba Ussu area in Mogi das Cruzes metropolitan region.

The businessman suffered abduction at the hands of the captors who kept him in a small confined space while physically harming him continuously and drugging him with high doses of sleeping pills for the entire five-day period. The abductors took advantage of his bank accounts to execute traditional banking and cryptocurrency transactions and according to Perez he lost approximately $50 million (over R$250 million) throughout his imprisonment. The authorities are currently checking the amount taken to confirm whether the perpetrators used both conventional money alongside digital assets.

One of his captors grew to trust him, permitting the businessman to find an opportunity to break free from his captivity. Using his drug from captivity Pérez administered the sedative to his guard who was also under sedation before freeing himself from his handcuffs. Longing for assistance he left his house and went to a nearby bar where he got in touch with Federal Highway Police. After escaping his captivity he stayed at the bar and informed authorities precisely where he had been kept prisoner.

Authorities found Ronaldo Batista during their search of the property after they invaded the location because he was among the taken hostage group as an ex-military police officer. Batista admitted to committing the crime which led to his arrest together with a 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition and mobile phones that authorities discovered at his location. Police detained him before leading him to preventive detention.

The authorities first treated Pérez like somebody who experienced kidnapping and extortion but his profile now generates doubts. Law enforcement agencies record his name on their global criminal list due to suspicions about financial wrongdoing that targeted South American fintech corporations and their customers. National authorities investigate whether the kidnappers kept Pérez as payment in their criminal gang activities.

The second kidnapper is still at large while law enforcement investigates further individuals who participated in the crime while trying to retrieve the stolen money. The Federal Police recently absorbed responsibility to examine the businessman’s legal status in Brazil while the case receives public recognition.