Pavel Lerner, General Manager of EXMO Cryptocurrency Exchange Kidnapped in Kiev on December 27, was Released today after paying a ransom of $ 1 million in Bitcoin, reports the Financial Times (FT).

Lerner was kidnapped in Kiev on Wednesday leaving his office. The Ukrainian online publication Strana.ua was the first to report that he was taken away by "strangers" in a black Mercedes Benz

FT reports that they were informed of the payment ransom by Anton Gerashchenko, a counselor from Ukraine. Minister of the Interior. Gerashchenko told FT:

"He was kidnapped by an armed gang in order to extort Bitcoins.We have operational information that he paid more than 1 Million Dollars of Bitcoins. "

In an article published today, Strana.ua reported that sources in the local police believe that the kidnappers are afraid to release Lerner after the The story of his kidnapping has attracted so much attention on a global scale.

EXMO reps declaration of liberation

Today, EXMO has issued an official statement on the abduction of Lerner. The statement reports that the company has "taken possession" of Lerner today and that it is currently safe:

"For the moment, it is safe and no physical harm has been inflicted on him, but Pavel is currently in a state of major stress, so he will not provide any official comment in the coming days. "

The EXMO Statement does not contain any mention of a ransom paid of any amount whatsoever. In the statement, the exchange reiterated that the Lerner kidnapping did not affect the usual operation of the company:

"We also wish to emphasize that Pavel's business at EXMO did not involve access to the financial assets of our users Despite the above, the platform continues its usual operations. "

] However, according to the company's official Twitter, the exchange was under DDoS attack yesterday, December 28th.

EXMO is under attack DDoS The site will be available in half an hour We apologize for the occasional inconvenience suffered. Sincerely, EXMO Team – EXMO (@Exmo_com) December 28, 2017

According to Strana.ua, Lerner is a Russian citizen who holds a residence permit in Poland and is involved in a number of crypto / blockchain startups in Ukraine. FT reports that EXMO is officially registered in the UK, but that it has "operations in Ukraine".

According to the official statement of EXMO, the investigation into the abduction of Lerner continues and the identity of the kidnappers remains unknown. Once identified, the perpetrators could incur up to five years of imprisonment, in accordance with Article 146.2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which covers abductions for "mercenary purposes" or by a group of persons "On their previous conspiracy"