News Beat
The ‘crypto curse’ killing millionaires from chopper crashes to concrete burial as FBI cop reveals chilling theories
A CHILLING wave of violence is sweeping through the digital-rich, leaving a trail of bodies behind.
It seems a “curse” has struck the world’s millionaires who have made their fortunes through crypto.
This is the new face of crypto crime, and it is far more terrifying than any online hack.
Criminals have discovered that breaking a human is easier than breaking a blockchain – and hackers have put down their keyboards and picked up knives, guns, and handcuffs.
Scott Curtis, an ex-FBI agent based in New York, reveals chilling theories, stressing that there is a huge amount of “wealth and value” in the crypto world.
He told The Sun: “Unfortunately [for the crypto bosses] they really didn’t assess the risk of promoting that value and promoting their involvement in the crypto space.”
This has made them “targets of opportunity for criminals, whether those are from organised crime groups or individuals.”
“Some of the attraction in the cryptocurrency space for criminals has been the fact that you can quickly move money all around the world in a matter of a second or two,” Curtis says.
“As opposed to in the old days, when you’re kidnapping somebody for cash. Now you can move money all around the world in a split second.”
Few stories capture this horrifying shift more starkly than that of Russian crypto millionaire Roman Novak and his wife Anna.
The couple vanished in Dubai in October, only for their remains to be found weeks later in the desert and reportedly poured into concrete.
The ex-FBI agent says the killers may have panicked and spiralled into “paranoia” – the kind that pushes criminals to take bizarre, extreme steps.
He said the motive behind such frantic decisions is often self-preservation, adding that offenders are desperate to “eliminate that possibility, connecting any criminal activity to them”.
The couple had been lured to a rented villa under the guise of discussing new investments. Instead, it became a trap.
“They were more than likely affiliated with some kind of organised crime group in Russia,” Curtis says.
“Russian groups are more sophisticated. They are used to planning and executing more complex plans for their criminal schemes, and they probably thought through how to minimize their exposure, minimize the ability of law enforcement to track them.”
Shocking reports claim they were stabbed and forced to sit opposite each other, watching one another die in a final act of cruelty designed to force access to Novak’s crypto fortune – estimated at a staggering £380million.
When the killers discovered the accounts were empty, the brutality escalated.
The couple were allegedly stuffed into thick plastic bags as their captors realised there was nothing left to steal.
Investigators say industrial solvents were poured over the bodies to speed up decomposition and wipe out DNA. Yet, remarkably, the remains were recovered intact.
Their mobile phones bounced across continents – first tracked to Hatta, Oman, then Cape Town, South Africa – before signals suddenly died.
Curtis says: “When they had this couple in their possession, they went through great lengths to try to provide some insulation and separate themselves from the victims and from the crime.
“Because they left the phone in South Africa so the cops couldn’t track it.”
Novak himself was no stranger to controversy. Convicted of fraud in 2020, he served six years before rebranding as a slick crypto investor.
Curtis notes that in this case, there may have been some internal conflict related to his conviction.
He told The Sun: “Some conflict develops between business partners.
“There’s some revenge factor if somebody feels like they got screwed out of some money they thought they were owed or entitled to. Next thing you know, they’re consorting with some criminal group to try to get what they feel they’re entitled to.
“They’re not going to go to law enforcement or go to a court system to try to get money that they think they’re entitled to, because there’s probably some illegality involved.
“They have to go through to the underworld and to criminal groups to try to obtain this money.”
Earlier scams reportedly saw Novak cheat partners out of RUB 7.3 million (£71,600) through falsified payments and abuse of trust.
Cops say the perpetrators scattered knives and the victims’ belongings across several Emirates in a clumsy attempt to muddy the trail.
Three Russian suspects were later detained by heavily armed police after returning to St Petersburg.
Former police officer Konstantin Shakht, 53, is believed to have masterminded the plot.
Two others – Yury Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin – pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder, while Shakht insists he is innocent. More arrests are expected.
The theory is echoed in the tragic case of 23-year-old Bitcoin blogger Pavel Nyashin, whose online displays of sudden wealth led to a brutal robbery that left him penniless – and was followed months later by his death in an apparent suicide.
In January, a gang dressed as Santa Claus raided his flat near St Petersburg, beating him and stealing 20 million roubles (£233,600), $70,000 (£51,551) and several iPhone X handsets.
Much of the cash reportedly belonged to investors he was advising.
His mother said Pavel fell into a deep depression after being unable to repay them – and cops said there were no signs of third-party involvement in his death.
But the brutal pattern of violence isn’t contained to one country.
In Vienna, Ukrainian student Danilo Kuzmin, 21, was found burned in the backseat of a Mercedes in Donaustadt – allegedly murdered for his cryptocurrency wealth.
Investigators identified two Ukrainian suspects, aged 19 and 45, arrested under international warrants three days after his body was found.
When tracking victims, Curtis says the gangs track when the money in the crypto space comes out and is claimed as cash.
When the money leaves the account, “they can identify who those individuals are”.
CCTV from the underground car park at the Sofitel hotel captured the terrifying moment several men surrounded Kuzmin.
Witnesses later found a blood stain in the stairwell. Forensic experts say Danilo’s body was around 80 per cent burned, with massive blunt force injuries.
Investigators believe he died from suffocation or heat shock.
Police say he was forced into the backseat, driven to a garden area, then set alight with petrol.
Curtis says: “It’s getting harder and harder to hack into the crypto space electronically, remotely and from overseas. Therefore, these criminals feel there’s less risk or the timing is quicker for them to confront somebody face-to-face and get access to their crypto accounts through threats of violence, or violence.
“They’re going to look for easy targets, number one, and then they’re going to look for the opportunity.
“They’re trying to find when this target’s going to be in a certain location at a certain time.
“They’re going to see if that person is travelling to an area with less scrutiny with law enforcement and immigration controls coming in and out the country.
“The more detailed the planning is… then it’s clearly a more organised, sophisticated criminal enterprise that’s involved.
“I think they’re also phishing through social media… feeling them out for whether they either are involved in cryptocurrency, or may be interested in getting involved.
“Forging a friendship and a relationship with them, and then setting them up and luring them… to then take advantage of this new relationship.
“A lot of con artists are convincing to get people on the hook and lure them in.”
The violence doesn’t always come from knives, petrol, or concrete. Sometimes, it comes disguised as disaster.
In another chilling case, a Russian tycoon with alleged links to Kremlin intelligence died in a helicopter crash after a passenger cancelled at the last minute, it was claimed.
Vyacheslav Taran, 53, was killed when the chopper came down near Monaco but his grieving widow has strongly denied he has any links to the Russian intelligence.
The crash also killed the 35-year-old French pilot aboard the Eurocopter EC130.
The aircraft slammed into a hillside despite good visibility and an experienced pilot.
Olga dismissed claims linking Taran to Russia’s SVR as “outrageous” and “an absolute and utter lie,” noting he left Russia in 2008 to focus on business.
Curtis reveals the methods and thinking behind these terrifying plots.
“If they have the manpower and resources and sophistication, then they’re probably conducting some kind of surveillance on these people,” he says.
“Using their network in the underworld… to collect intelligence about these individuals, and where they’re going, and who they’re with.
“It’s a vast network that organised crime can tap into, no matter what ethnic group you are.
“A lot of these relationships… were forged in prisons. They would then have this increased network of criminals that they could tap into if they needed help.”
Crypto boss Fernando Pérez Algaba also met a grisly end, leaving a note warning, “If something happens to me, everyone is already warned.”
Children later found his dismembered body in a suitcase in Ingeniero Budge, Argentina. He had been hounded by creditors over failed crypto investments.
Meanwhile, US-Bulgarian millionaire Christian Peev was battered to death with a dumbbell, dismembered, and flushed down a toilet.
His killer, Vesco Valchinov, enlisted an accomplice to bury large bones while discarding smaller pieces in drains.
“Extreme methods are used to eliminate any possibility of connecting criminal activity to the killer,” Curtis says.
“Sometimes they overthink things – like moving bodies multiple times to ensure no traces remain. The more detailed the planning, the clearer it is that a sophisticated criminal enterprise is involved.
“Greed, desperation is often the main motive, if they don’t act immediately, they feel they’ll lose an opportunity. They lure, they forge relationships, they exploit trust. It’s all about seizing a moment.”
Extreme methods are also used as a “deterrence”, Curtis says.
“Organised crime groups are going to instil fear in people,” he added.
“Deter them from resisting if they’re kidnapped, going to law enforcement, following through and reporting crimes.”
Targets are often chosen where there’s less scrutiny from law enforcement or immigration controls.
“It could be anywhere – US, France, Africa, Southeast Asia – where they can get in and out quickly,” Curtis says.
“Organised crime networks, encrypted apps, international connections – they plan, they surveil, they exploit greed.”
The lesson is brutal: the crypto world’s glittering fortunes now come with an unprecedented human cost.
Curtis warns: “Everybody has to be aware of their surroundings and know who they’re dealing with.
“The organised crime groups and opportunistic individuals – anyone could be a predator.”
From chopper crashes to dismembered bodies, the consequences in the race for digital millions can be deadly.
Who is crypto millionaire Roman Novak?
ROMAN Novak is a Russian millionaire who made much of his fortune in the crypto world – estimated at around £380million.
He presented himself as a successful crypto investor and founder of Fintopio, a platform claiming to facilitate fast cryptocurrency transfers.
Roman went missing in Dubai in October alongside his wife Anna.
The couple’s remains were found the following month “poured into concrete” with investigators alleging they were both tortured and then dumped in the desert.
They were reportedly lured to a rented villa under the pretext of discussing new investments before being abducted.
The couple’s mobile phones were tracked to Hatta, Oman and later Cape Town, South Africa, before signals abruptly stopped on October
It is understood the killers, all Russian nationals, reportedly demanded access to Novak’s crypto fortune.
The couple had reportedly been forced to try to unlock Novak’s crypto wallets under torture, but the killers discovered the accounts were empty.
Novak had previously been convicted of fraud in 2020 and served six years in a general regime colony.
