David Balland, the co-founder of Ledger, was kidnapped alongside his wife, Amadine, early on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, both were eventually rescued, but only after enduring unbelievable hardship. A Traumatizing Experience The kidnappers entered the home of David and Amadine in Vierzon, France, earlier this week. The kidnappers knew that David was heavily involved in the creation of Ledger, which is one of the biggest and most well-known companies specializing in crypto asset storage devices. In 2023, Ledger secured $104 million in funding, according to Bloomberg. Over 230 law enforcement officers were involved in tracking down the kidnappers, who demanded a $10 million ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency. Authorities eventually located Balland on Wednesday evening in a remote house near Châteauroux after tracing the GPS signal of a suspicious vehicle. He was found injured, with visible signs of beatings and part of his finger missing. Arrests Made After David was found, Amadine was also later discovered bound but unharmed in the back of a van in Essonne. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau informed the press that the kidnappers had severed the aforementioned finger and sent it to as part of their ransom demand. So far, ten individuals have been arrested in connection with the abductions. This was an exceptionally intricate case, Gen. Ghislain Réty said during a press conference on Thursday night, as reported by The New York Times. Beccuau also stated that a portion of the ransom has been paid, adding that almost all of it has been tracked, frozen, and seized.
