A Phuket court has handed down a 2 year prison sentence to 5 Russian men found guilty of kidnap and extortion on the island.
The case relates to an incident in January in which a Belarusian couple was kidnapped and forced to transfer nearly 30 million baht in an unspecified cryptocurrency.
The Phuket Provincial Court found 5 Russian men guilty and sentenced them yesterday, April 10. They have been named in a police report as 37 year old Zalim Nalchikov, 30 year old Oleg Bogdanov, 36 year old Azamat Nagoev, 29 year old Islam Abdokov, and 36 year old Aslan Abazov.
They were arrested following the abduction of 23 year old Albert Viviankou and his wife on the evening of January 31. The couple was kidnapped in Phuket Town by a group of men who forced them into a Hyundai minivan, before driving them to a property in the Naka Market area.
The Belarusian couple was then forced to transfer nearly 30 million baht in cryptocurrency before being released unharmed. Following their release, the police arrested those involved and confiscated evidence from the scene of the crime.
According to a report from the Phuket News, the Russians were originally sentenced to 4 years in prison but their sentences were halved due to them all pleading guilty.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
