The CEO of prominent Canadian crypto firm, WonderFi Technologies, Dean Skurka, was reportedly kidnapped and coerced into making a $1 million ransom payment for his release, according to recent reports. This alarming incident occurred during Vancouver’s rush hour on November 6th as Skurka was allegedly forced into a vehicle. To secure his release, Skurka made an electronic transfer of $1 million, as reported by a reliable source close to the investigation.
Following the incident, Skurka reportedly confirmed through an email that he was indeed involved in an unfortunate event, but he managed to remain safe. Importantly, Skurka made clear that the company’s assets and data remained unaffected by the incident. According to reports, the police are currently investigating the matter, although further details have yet to be revealed.
Disturbingly, this incident adds to an increasing list of abductions involving crypto executives and influencers. Generally, these incidents are driven by the aim to unlawfully obtain large sums of money. Recent cases include an alleged kidnap and murder of a foreign national in Ukraine, who had $170,000 of Bitcoin stolen from him. Weeks later, six individuals were charged for kidnapping a Chinese national, demanding a $1 million ransom in stablecoin Tether.
WonderFi, which is supported by Shark Tank co-host Kevin O’Leary, is one of Canada’s most well-known publicly listed crypto firms. Displayed as WNDR on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the crypto firm has a notable market cap of $75 million. WonderFi is known for developing, incubating, and investing in centralized exchanges and decentralized protocols.
The company holds ownership of crypto enterprises Coinsquare, SmartPay, Tetra Trust, and Bitbuy. Among its most utilized offerings include the non-custodial wallet, WonderFi Wallet, and the WonderFi layer 2 blockchain. As of an October 30th statement indicating its growth, the company manages over $1.35 billion worth of assets under its custody.