Thief disguised as delivery driver steals $11 million in cryptocurrency in San Francisco
A San Francisco thief posing as a delivery driver stole a victim’s phone, laptop, and roughly $11 million in cryptocurrency, according to a police report cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The robbery happened around 6:45 a.m. on Saturday at a home in the Mission Dolores neighborhood. Police say the impostor displayed a gun and restrained the victim with duct tape before taking off with the digital assets and electronics. It’s not yet clear whether the victim was injured or if any arrests have been made.
The incident comes amid what appears to be a rise in crypto-related robberies, with criminals targeting investors for access to high-value accounts.
In Los Angeles, prosecutors recently charged a former LAPD officer and an alleged Israeli gangster in the kidnapping of a teenage crypto entrepreneur. Deputy District Attorney Jane Brownstone announced the arrests of Gabby Ben and former officer Eric Halem on Friday. Both have pleaded not guilty, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Court records show Ben, 51, has two prior fraud convictions and was previously deported to Israel; prosecutors said he has ties to organized crime. Halem, 38, served 13 years with the LAPD before leaving the department in 2022 and had reportedly considered developing a reality TV series about his career.
Authorities allege that last December, Ben, Halem, and four others went to a luxury high-rise in Koreatown to abduct the teen, who ran a crypto business. Armed, they entered the residence, handcuffed the victim when he returned, and demanded access to his crypto wallet. The teenager initially tried to mislead them by providing an empty wallet, prosecutors say, but the group then threatened to shoot him in the foot and waterboard him in the shower. He ultimately gave them access to a wallet containing about $350,000 in cryptocurrency. Both Ben and Halem were denied bail and are awaiting trial. In a separate case earlier this year, a crypto investor in Manhattan was arrested after allegedly holding an Italian businessman captive for more than two weeks in a luxury apartment. The visitor told police he arrived in New York on May 6th to meet with John Woeltz, who then allegedly took his devices and passport and demanded his Bitcoin password. When the man refused, Woeltz and another suspect allegedly tortured him, including shocking him with wires, holding a gun to his head, and suspending him over the edge of a five-story building. Woeltz has been charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and weapons possession.
