32-year-old Steve Manos of Lake Worth, Florida was robbed at knifepoint as he attempted to buy $28,000 in bitcoin earlier this week.
On a late Sunday night this week, Steve Manos thought he was partaking in a routine bitcoin sale with two men he had done business with in the past. Manos was looking to buy bitcoin from the two individuals for $28,000 in cash and met with the two individuals in his car. It all went wrong after.
As reported by the Sun-Sentinel, a regional news service in Miami, 32-year-old Steve Manos from Palm Beach County in Florida met with two individuals in the parking lot of a market at West Palm Beach. Manos had told deputies that he had conducted business previously with the two men, one of whom is revealed as 34-year-old Andre Allen.
Manos was looking to exchange cash for bitcoin and had $28,000 in his car. The two men reportedly entered the vehicle according to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s arrest report, one of whom got into the front passenger seat beside Manos, while the other took the seat behind Manos.
Manos handed over a gift bag, which contained 28 bundles of $1,000. The other end of the exchange saw the front passenger take out a laptop in order to finish the exchange. However, the man also pulled out a knife and pressed it against Manos’ chest.
Although Manos told the men to just leave with the money without any further consequence, a struggle followed after the backseat passenger attempted to grab Manos’ gun from the driver’s door compartment, where Manos was seated.
It ended with Manos unable to keep up with chasing the robbers as they found their heels before speeding away in an Acura.
That night, Manos provided Palm Beach Sherriff deputies a phone number that he had previously used to contact one of the two individuals during past dealings. That number was subsequently linked to Andre Allen of West Boynton who was picked out of a photo lineup by Manos.
The next day, Allen was arrested. He faces charges of armed robbery, burglary, and battery and is being held in a Palm Beach County Jail on a $31,000 bond.
Offline Bitcoin Exchanges Gone Wrong
The latest instance of a bitcoin sale going awry follows another incident in Brooklyn, New York, wherein a man looking to sell $1,100 in bitcoin was robbed at gunpoint.
The unidentified man put up an advertisement on Craigslist, looking to sell bitcoin for cash and ultimately found himself at the wrong end of two pistols aimed at him. In that instance, the armed men forced the seller to make the transfer, before proceeding to steal his phone.