A federal grand jury has indicted three men from Tennessee on attempted robbery and kidnapping charges after they traveled to California and posed as delivery workers to rob cryptocurrency owners of millions in a violent spree, authorities said Monday.
Elijah Armstrong, 21, Nino Chindavanh, 21, and Jayden Rucker, 25, face charges of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, attempted Hobbs Act robbery and attempted kidnapping, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian described the scheme as “sophisticated” as well as “brazen, violent, and dangerous” in a department news release.
The trio is alleged to have targeted cryptocurrency holders in San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Los Angeles, authorities said.
They posed as delivery workers to access or attempt to access the victims’ homes and then used guns, duct tape and zip ties to assault their victims, including by binding and restraining a victim to force him to divulge account information, according to the department. In one case, a victim was forced at gunpoint to sign into his cryptocurrency accounts to allow for the transfer of roughly $6.5 million to a wallet controlled by the co-conspirators, authorities said.
Armstrong and Rucker were arrested Dec. 31 in Los Angeles and Chindavanh was arrested Dec. 22 in Sunnyvale, according to the department. All three are in federal custody, authorities said.
If convicted, they face up to life in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, as well as up to 20 years and $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, attempted Hobbs Act robbery and attempted kidnapping, according to the department.
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