The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court ruled that the Vietnamese residents – Ho Ngoc Tai and Tran Ngoc Hoang – will spend their lives in prison for kidnapping an individual and stealing $1.5 million worth of bitcoin from him.

14 other people who also took part in the crime received sentences between 9 and 19 years. 

No Mercy 

The 34-year-old Tai and the 40-year-old Hoang were slammed with life imprisonment for orchestrating a sophisticated kidnapping and later draining $1.5 million in BTC from the victim. 

According to local law, digital assets are illegal in Vietnam, meaning individuals or businesses can not accept them as a currency or a means of payment. Nonetheless, the defendants managed to convert the stolen BTC to VND18.8 billion (approximately $800,000). The court ruled that the criminals should compensate the victim with that amount.

Tai and Hoang were not the only people behind the affair. They were supported by 14 other associates, who will go to prison, too. However, none of them will stay behind bars for life, with sentences varying from 9 to 19 years. 

It is interesting to note that two of them – Nguyen Quoc Dung and Nguyen Anh Tuan – served as police officers a few years back. The former was sentenced to 17 years, while the latter will stay in a correctional facility for 12 years. 

Retrospection of the Crime

As CryptoPotato