Category - Tech
Billionaire Foils Kidnapping After Abductors Pose as Painters
An Australian billionaire survived a kidnapping attempt that seemed straight out of the plot of a movie, in which his potential abductors pretended to be painters to gain entry into his residence.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the target of the attack was gaming magnate Tim Heath, who was an early adopter of Bitcoin and amassed his fortune by leveraging cryptocurrency into online gambling platforms. The kidnappers, who were part of an international crime gang, reportedly posed as painter-decorators wearing reflective vests and then entered the stairway of Heath's apartment in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
The kidnappers were said to have beaten the 46-year-old up, however he managed to fight them off as they attempted to drag him into a van.
Authorities believe that the kidnapping attempt, which took place on July 29, had been "meticulously planned." The men spent months gathering information about Heath including his movements between work and home and even installed a tracking device on his vehicle. The motive is believed to have been financial, as they were evidently hoping to demand a large ransom.
The attack is only just now being reported in the media because one of the suspects, a Georgian citizen who was extradited from Lithuania to Estonia, appeared in court for a bail hearing this week. It was also revealed during the hearing that the alleged attackers had bought equipment from a hardware store just days before and had planned to take Heath to a remote hideout about 40 miles from Tallinn.
However, authorities were also able to retrace the group's movements because they had rented an Airbnb equipped with security cameras and had used a rental car.
The incident occurred just 10 days before the grand opening of the Bombay Club, Heath's new $100 million casino and luxury hotel complex for "high rollers" located on the same street as his home. Suffice to say, he was not present at the launch and has not publicly commented on the kidnapping attempt.