Crypto influencer found dead in Montreal park months after abduction

The body of Kevin Mirshahi, a crypto influencer who was abducted from a condo in June, has been found at a park in Montreal, Canada, local reports state.

Mirshahi’s decomposing remains were discovered by a passerby at the Île-de-la-Visitation park on Oct. 30, local police told The Gazette, a Montreal news outlet.

An autopsy confirmed the body’s identity as Mirshahi, The Gazette said in the Nov. 13 report.

The 25-year-old was last seen on June 21 when he and three others were abducted from a condo building in Montreal, The Gazette reported at the time. The three other abductees managed to escape.

The incident adds to a concerning trend of crypto utive and influencer abductions and murders, often motivated by the intent to steal — or recover — large sums of money.

Source: Le Journal de Québec

Last week, the CEO of Canadian-based WonderFi Dean Skurka was reportedly abducted and forced to pay a $1 million ransom for his release.

Mirshahi’s investigation is still ongoing. However, The Gazette noted that local police arrested a 32-year-old woman named Joanie Lepage in August, who was charged with the first-degree murder of Mirshahi.

Related: Man allegedly tries to ‘recover’ losses from BitConnect, kidnapping two

Mirshahi was well-known in the Montreal crypto community, previously owning and operating a private crypto investment firm called “Crypto Paradise Island.”

While it isn’t clear whether Lepage was an investor at Crypto Paradise Island, X user “Bibi” claimed he had been scammed by Mirshahi, while others also referred to Mirshahi as a scammer.

Mirshahi was also known to Québec’s investment regulator, which banned Mirshahi and two others from carrying out activities as a broker or investment adviser in 2021 or soon after.

He was also ordered to stop posting related content on social media.

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers extended that ban on July 4 — about two weeks after Mirshahi was abducted.

Earlier this year, four suspects were arrested in July for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a 29-year-old foreign national Bitcoiner in Kyiv, Ukraine, stealing $170,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC).

Six Malaysian nationals were also charged with kidnapping a Chinese national and demanding a ransom of $1 million worth of stablecoin Tether (USDT) a few weeks later in August.

Magazine: China’s ‘point running’ crypto scams, pig butchers kidnap kids

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