Crypto CEO Kidnapped and Held for $1 Million Ransom

The CEO of a Canadian cryptocurrency company was kidnapped and held for ransom for a short period on Wednesday, Canadian media reported.

Around 6 p.m., Toronto police received a report of a kidnapping around University Avenue and Richmond Street in Toronto. The CBC identified the victim as Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, a publicly traded crypto platform that claims to oversee more than $1.35 billion in assets.

The CBC said that Skurka was forced into a vehicle and paid a $1 million ransom to secure his release. He was eventually found in Centennial Park in Toronto, He told the outlet in an email that “Client funds and data remain safe, and were not impacted by this incident.”

As of Thursday, Toronto police had not released any public information about the incident.

Neither Skurka nor WonderFi posted any statements on the incident.

Cryptocurrency founders, investors, and the people close to them have been targeted scores of times in recent years by thieves and kidnappers.

In September, Nick Drakon, the then-CEO of crypto research firm Revelo Intel resigned from his job after disclosing that he was robbed by a group of attackers who stole his personal funds as well as assets from his businesses.

Earlier this year, the FBI and local police arrested a dozen men involved in a home invasion spree that targeted crypto holders.