Numerous people have had their digital money stolen due to an epidemic of violent crypto wrench attacks in France, where victims are threatened, kidnapped, or tortured and forced to give up their digital assets. Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder, posted on X, claiming that the reason for these crimes may stem from government corruption, stating that members of the French tax authority are “selling” the personal data of crypto hedge fund managers to criminals.
Crypto Crime Surge
Durov stated that French authorities have not done anything about the “massive” number of citizens whose personal information and tax records have been compromised because they are benefiting from these leaks into the French government database. At the same time, France’s anti‑organized crime prosecutors announced that they have charged 88 individuals with involvement in kidnappings related to crypto theft, two of which are high-profile cases. The first case being that of Ledger Co-Founder David Balland, who was kidnapped in 2025, and the second is the daughter of Pierre Noizat, who is the founder of Paymium and was also the victim of an attempted kidnapping.
The Role of the Tax Official
Ghalia C., A tax official, has been accused of illegally accessing state software in order to obtain the addresses and assets of crypto investors so he could sell this data on to organized crime groups, according to an article in Le Parisien. The National Agency for Secure Documented Information has also reported an incident potentially exposing personal and professional account data on a government portal.
So far, crypto wrench attacks represent a shift from digital theft to physical violence. Victims are targeted not through hacking but through tracking, surveillance, and brute force. The possibility that a member of a financial authority/state organisation could be involved with organized crime is extremely serious, and suggests that organized crime is now operating within the systems designed to provide protection to citizens.
What Comes Next
French authorities state that they are in a “period of increased caution” concerning this new type of organized crime. The French Finance Ministry has yet to comment on Durov’s allegations. Meanwhile, Durov is currently entangled in a different legal battle with the French government regarding Telegram’s moderation policy, which he claims is being used to pressure him on political censorship.
