A man in his mid-twenties from Florida has been found guilty of orchestrating a crypto theft operation that also involved kidnapping and assault.

According to a recent press release by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Remy St. Felix, a resident of West Palm Beach, was identified as the mastermind behind a group of burglars who targeted individuals with crypto holdings between September 2022 and July 2023 across several states.

The DOJ stated that St. Felix and his associates would break into homes, abduct the victims, and coerce them to access and empty their cryptocurrency wallets. To achieve this, St. Felix and his accomplices would hack into the victims’ email accounts and conduct surveillance beforehand.

After stealing the funds, they would then launder the money using privacy-focused digital assets like Monero (XMR), decentralized exchanges (DEX) with no KYC regulations, and “instant exchanges.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, remarked, “St. Felix and his co-conspirators targeted victims across the United States through violent home invasions, kidnappings, and robberies, all for the purpose of stealing cryptocurrency. Despite their attempts to cover their tracks with encrypted communication and anonymous financial transactions, our dedicated investigators and prosecutors were able to bring them to justice.”

In one instance during April 2023, St. Felix and another individual broke into a home, restrained the occupants, held them at gunpoint, and threatened both the victims and their spouse while stealing $150,000 worth of crypto assets.

St. Felix was apprehended in July 2023 just as he was preparing to carry out another home invasion, according to the DOJ. He has been convicted on nine charges and may face a minimum of seven years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life behind bars.

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