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CASE 019  |  Unidentified  |  November 4, 2017  |  USA
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DATABASE RECORD
  id                  19
  date                November 4, 2017
  original_date       November 4, 2017
  year                2017
  month               11
  quarter             2017-Q4
  victim              Unidentified
  location            New York, New York
  country             USA
  scenario            Kidnapping
  description         Man robbed of $1.8M of ETH
  kidnappings         0
  violence_torture    0
  drugs_alcohol       0
  weapons             0
  theft               0
  life_taken          0
  money_wanted         $1.8 million
  coin_type           ETH
  reports             NY Post, NY Post, Coingeek
  notes               his "friend" betrayed him
  has_processed_date  1
  created_at          2025-11-13 05:44:45
  (flag legend: 'kidnappings' is the DETENTION flag — 1 when the victim was held against
   their will at any point, tied, locked in, held at gunpoint or taken away; it is NOT the
   same as the 'Kidnapping' scenario, which means taken away and held. See README, Definitions.)

AI SUMMARY  [generated at bulk import, NOT verified against sources]
  **Victim:** Unidentified
  
  **Attackers:** Unknown number of perpetrators
  
  **Attack Method:** Kidnapping
  
  **Violence Used:** Threats/intimidation
  
  **Crypto Stolen:**  $1.8 million in ETH
  
  **Status:** Investigation ongoing

LINKED SOURCES
  [url]  https://nypost.com/2018/06/12/trio-of-crooks-busted-in-1-8m-cryptocurrency-heist/

NOTES ON THIS FILE
  * matched to sheet row 20: exact date + country, unique candidate

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ARTICLE 1
  Source   NY Post, NY Post, Coingeek
  URL      https://nypost.com/2018/06/12/trio-of-crooks-busted-in-1-8m-cryptocurrency-heist/
  Origin   reported_K&R sheet, row 20, column "Articles"
  Length   3,084 chars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three men charged in $2M cryptocurrency kidnapping and robbery
By Shayna Jacobs  and Janon Fisher
Jun 12, 2018 | 11:05 PM

Three men charged in $2M cryptocurrency kidnapping. Cryptocurrency heist suspects were arraigned in Manhattan court Tuesday.
MEMBERS OF a Bronx biker gang, one sporting a skull tattoo, kidnapped a friend and robbed him of nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency, Manhattan prosecutors charged Tuesday.
Cesar (Fuego) Guzman, 38, a paraprofessional with the Department of Education, Allan (Joker) Nunez, 36, and Darrell (Bishop) Colon, 37, joined Louis Meza, 35, to lure the cyber-millionaire victim into a minivan posing as a livery car on Nov. 4, 2017.
Meza, of Jersey City, who originally set up the victim, his buddy, by getting him to get into the fake Uber was arrested and charged last December.
Each of the men played a role in the heist.
Colon was hiding in the rear row of seats and popped out with what appeared to be a gun to threaten the victim for his Ether — a type of virtual money, prosecutors said.
Nunez drove the victim around for two hours at gunpoint until he coughed up the location of his 24-word passphrase. Meza, who was caught on surveillance camera, and Guzman, whose head is inked with tribal tats, broke into victim’s apartment where they nabbed his digital wallet and stole $1.8 million, prosecutor James Vinocur said at the men’s arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“The investigation revealed that Mr. Guzman recruited both of these individuals based on their shared involvement in a Bronx motorcycle crew or group,” Vinocur said.
Most of the stolen digital dollars were recovered, prosecutors said.
The chunky trio may not seem like high-tech hoods, but Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said everyone is getting clepto around crypto.
Cryptocurrency heist suspects (from left) Allan Nunez, Darrell Colon and Cezar Guzman are arraigned in Manhattan court Tuesday.
Cryptocurrency heist suspects (from left) Allan Nunez, Darrell Colon and Cezar Guzman are arraigned in Manhattan court Tuesday. (Alec Tabak / for New York Daily News)
“Investors aren’t the only ones tracking the fluctuating values of digital currencies — everyone from sophisticated cybercriminals to old-school shakedown-and-stick-up scammers are keeping a close eye, too,” Vance said.
Nunez’s attorney told the judge that City Councilman Ritchie Torres penned a letter on his client’s behalf attesting to his good character and the charity work he does for his community in the Bronx.
The attorney, Rob Georges, also argued that his client should get relatively minimal bail considering that fallen film producer Harvey Weinstein, another defendant in Manhattan, posted $1 million cash, which is just a fraction of his reported worth.
“And he’s not suspected of being nearly as violent,” Georges argued.
The three men pleaded not guilty in front of Justice Melissa Jackson.
Guzman’s attorney said that in addition to working for the Education Department, his client attends night classes at Lehman College.
Each of the men was held on at least $50,000 bail.

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ARTICLE 2
  Source   NY Post, NY Post, Coingeek
  URL      (no URL recorded for this column)
  Origin   reported_K&R sheet, row 20, column "Article 2"
  Length   1,171 chars
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Man admits to $1.8M crypto heist, gets 10 years in prison
By Rebecca Rosenberg
Published Sep. 5, 2018, 7:50 p.m. ET

The mastermind of a $1.8 million cryptocurrency heist admitted to the robbery Wednesday in exchange for a decade in prison.

Louis Meza, 35, copped to first-degree grand larceny and second-degree kidnapping in Manhattan Supreme Court and is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 27 to 10 years behind bars and five years of post-release supervision.

“Louis Meza orchestrated a 21st-century stick-up,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in statement. “Then 21st-century investigators brought him swiftly to justice, securing a landmark conviction in an undeveloped area of the law.”

Meza — along with the help of three co-defendants whose cases are still pending — hatched the Nov. 4, 2017, scheme.

The men held the unnamed victim captive in a van for two hours while they stole his memory stick and used it to move the Ether currency into an account they controlled.

The cyber crooks allegedly pointed a BB gun at the victim and covered his head with a hood, but the shaken man broke free and was able to call 911, according to prosecutors.

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ARTICLE 3
  Source   NY Post, NY Post, Coingeek
  URL      (no URL recorded for this column)
  Origin   reported_K&R sheet, row 20, column "Article 3"
  Length   2,000 chars
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Trio of crooks busted in $1.8M cryptocurrency heist
By Rebecca Rosenberg

Three cyber crooks — including a church worker and a city Education Department staffer — were busted Tuesday for an elaborate $1.8 million cryptocurrency heist, authorities said.

The Nov. 4, 2017, scheme allegedly was orchestrated by Louis Meza, 35, who was arrested last December for the robbery.

He set up a meeting with the unnamed victim, then pretended to order an Uber to take him home, prosecutors said.
Allan Nunez, 36, allegedly posed as the Uber driver, while Darrell Colon hid in the back of the minivan. When the victim stepped in, Colon pulled a gun and demanded his keys and a memory stick associated with his Ether currency account, court papers charge.

“I stuck the gun in the guy’s ribs and took his stuff,” Colon, who said the weapon was a BB gun, allegedly confessed to investigators.

The frightened victim was held captive inside the van for two hours with a hood over his head before escaping, Assistant District Attorney James Vinocur said Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“The victim was able to run, terrified, for two blocks until he was able to reach a grocery store and call 911,” the prosecutor said.

Meza allegedly had enlisted his pal, Cesar Guzman, who works as a DOE paraprofessional, to help plan the robbery.

Officials said Guzman, 38, recruited Nunez, a church worker, and Colon from his motorcycle club.

While the victim was trapped inside the van, Meza and Guzman broke into his house.

Meza, who was caught on surveillance video leaving the victim’s home with a black box, used the stolen data to move the cyber funds into his personal account.
Authorities said they recovered most of the currency.

Defense lawyer Michael Barsky argued that Guzman, who runs a neighborhood charity and cares for his autistic nephew, should be granted reasonable bail.

Attorney Rob Georges made a similar pitch for Nunez, then invoked the sex-assault case against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

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FETCHED ARTICLE 1  [AUTO-TRIMMED — UNREVIEWED]
  !! Furniture was cut by a script keyed on this case's record, not by a person.
  !! It may still carry passages about OTHER cases from a round-up article.
  !! The full page extract is kept in staging/ if a cut needs revisiting.
  Source     nypost.com
  URL        https://nypost.com/2018/06/12/trio-of-crooks-busted-in-1-8m-cryptocurrency-heist/
  Field      url
  Retrieved  2026-09-05T12:56:32+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
  Language   unknown
  Kept       paragraphs headline [0] + 1-18 of 19
  Length     2,571 chars
  Integrity  sha256 8c2eabe934044e9335a4ae0dc41c1b1aa61264306549a58ac0f0d26ba4ad3032
  Trimmed    AUTO-TRIMMED, unreviewed: kept paragraphs 1-18 plus headline [0]; dropped 0 leading and 0 trailing paragraphs. Case-term hits on page: 4.
  Caveat     retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
             from the spreadsheet, there is no second copy to hash it against.
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)

Trio of crooks busted in $1.8M cryptocurrency heist | New York Post

See more of our coverage in your search results.

Three cyber crooks — including a church worker and a city Education Department staffer — were busted Tuesday for an elaborate $1.8 million cryptocurrency heist, authorities said.

The Nov. 4, 2017, scheme allegedly was orchestrated by Louis Meza, 35, who was arrested last December for the robbery.

He set up a meeting with the unnamed victim, then pretended to order an Uber to take him home, prosecutors said.

Allan Nunez, 36, allegedly posed as the Uber driver, while Darrell Colon hid in the back of the minivan. When the victim stepped in, Colon pulled a gun and demanded his keys and a memory stick associated with his Ether currency account, court papers charge.

“I stuck the gun in the guy’s ribs and took his stuff,” Colon, who said the weapon was a BB gun, allegedly confessed to investigators.

The frightened victim was held captive inside the van for two hours with a hood over his head before escaping, Assistant District Attorney James Vinocur said Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“The victim was able to run, terrified, for two blocks until he was able to reach a grocery store and call 911,” the prosecutor said.

Meza allegedly had enlisted his pal, Cesar Guzman, who works as a DOE paraprofessional, to help plan the robbery.

Officials said Guzman, 38, recruited Nunez, a church worker, and Colon from his motorcycle club.

While the victim was trapped inside the van, Meza and Guzman broke into his house.

Meza, who was caught on surveillance video leaving the victim’s home with a black box, used the stolen data to move the cyber funds into his personal account.

Authorities said they recovered most of the currency.

Defense lawyer Michael Barsky argued that Guzman, who runs a neighborhood charity and cares for his autistic nephew, should be granted reasonable bail.

Attorney Rob Georges made a similar pitch for Nunez, then invoked the sex-assault case against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

He said the disgraced producer was permitted to turn himself in and a bail package was prearranged with the DA’s office — a courtesy that wasn’t extended to Nunez or his co-defendants.

“And he [Nunez] is not suspected of being nearly as violent,” added Georges. Justice Melissa Jackson, who didn’t address the Weinstein comparison, ordered Nunez held on $50,000 bail, Colon on $75,000 and Guzman on $100,000.

The trio pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, kidnapping and other charges. They face up to 25 years in prison.

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generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R  |  case 019
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