Exmo manager/director, Pavel Lerner, was freed today by his abductors in Ukraine.
If you hadn't been following the news, Pavel Lerner was kidnapped on December 26th as he was leaving his office in Kiev's Obolon district.
As he was walking to his car he was dragged into a black Mercedes-Benz by men wearing black masks.
It wasn't immediately clear why they kidnapped him, but a ransom or possibly a theft by the abductors was suspected as the motivations, and it likely had to do with his involvement in cryptocurrency.
Who is Pavel Lerner?
Pavel Lerner is considered a prominent blockchain expert in Russia.
His role at Exmo was considered that of management, a director to be precise. Exmo was quick to stress that the nature of Pavel's job at Exmo "doesn't assume access either to storage or any personal data of users."
His kidnap came as quite a shock, especially to the clients of the Exmo exchange who were immediately worried that their funds could be at risk.
Exmo claimed at the time that Lerner had no access to customer accounts or personal data. All customer funds were absolutely safe no matter the outcome of the abduction, according to Exmo.
That is good to know considering Exmo has over 95k accounts currently trading cryptocurrencies on its exchange!
Returned at last!
According to media reports, Mr. Lerner was seen thrown out of a vehicle on a motorway by his kidnappers earlier today.
Today marks 3 days since he was originally abducted.
According to Exmo, Lerner is still under extreme emotional distress, and would not be talking to the media in the immediate future.
Surprisingly, he was said to be physically unharmed.
I guess when they threw him from the vehichle, he landed on some nice comfy blankets.
Damage control.
I would imagine Exmo is now grilling him trying to figure out exactly what he told the kidnappers.
The fear now is that they are threatening to harm his family or friends if he does not give them what they want.
Likely a very tough position for Mr. Lerner to be in.
For all their clients sake and everyone involved, hopefully the investigation goes smoothly and they are able to find the people that did this and make sure they are not able to steal any people's funds.
Glad he was returned mostly unharmed.
I would not be surprised to hear about stuff like this happening a lot more in the near future with the amount of money these people are potentially involved with the potentially anonymous nature of getting it.
Brings out all kinds.
Stay informed my friends.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42518235
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42505261
Image Sources:
https://www.ccn.com/turkish-police-bust-bitcoin-extortionists-who-netted-3-54-million-from-victims/
https://cryptocrimson.com/exmo-cryptocurrency-exchange-director-kidnapped-ukraine/
