- Attackers beat victim and threatened him with a knife.
- Would-be robbers failed to escape with any crypto after neighbour intervened.
- Trio sent to maximum-security penal colonies.
A Russian court sentenced three individuals to five years in prison after a court found them guilty of violently robbing someone of their cash and crypto.
Omsk’s Leninsky District Court sentenced the three, all aged between 21 and 23, to prison on March 3.
“The defendants broke into the [unnamed] victim’s apartment, threatened him with a knife, beat him, and demanded that he hand over cryptocurrencies and cash,” prosecutors told the court, the Omsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reported on its Telegram channel.
Crypto holders have recently become a key target for criminals in Russia and in other countries.
Last year was the worst year on record for so-called wrench attacks, with criminals torturing victims and cutting off their fingers. Experts warn of an escalation in brutality in 2026, with nearly a dozen violent attacks or kidnappings of crypto entrepreneurs, investors, and their loved ones reported in January and February.
Yet, the courts are catching up.
In November, a court in western Russia jailed two knife-wielding attackers who stole crypto worth $171,000 from a blogger.
And a court in Kazan has begun the trial of seven people suspected of beating and forcing a man to send them crypto worth $42,000.
Violent attack
The Omsk incident took place on April 10, 2024, the court heard, after the trio’s accomplice, a courier who had previously delivered a package to the address, identified the victim as a crypto owner.
Police showed the court closed-circuit television footage of the three defendants, wearing masks and hoods, approaching the apartment complex at night.
The trio tricked the victim into answering the door before forcing their way in and torturing him at knifepoint.
However, the attack was cut short after a neighbour grew suspicious about the noises coming from the apartment and came to investigate.
This caused the criminals to panic and flee the scene of the crime before they could get their hands on any crypto, prosecutors explained.
The three defendants denied involvement in the crime, but the court found them guilty of all charges and ordered them to serve their terms in maximum-security penal colonies.
The court also ordered them to pay the victim over $5,000 in damages.
The trio’s courier acquaintance is being tried separately.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.
