John Jefferson
Top, from left: Angel Borrero, Reynaldo Diaz and Ricardo Estrada. Bottom, from left: Anthony Pena, Michael Rivas and Josue Romero (Danbury Police Department).
In August, six men allegedly orchestrated a brazen daylight kidnapping of a couple driving a Lamborghini Urus while house hunting in Connecticut. About a month later, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., announced they arrested two men for conspiring to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency.
It turns out the two incidents are apparently related.
Several witnesses called police in Danbury, Connecticut, shortly before 6 p.m. on Aug. 25 after seeing six men wearing dark clothing force a couple into the back of a white van after rear-ending their Lamborghini. Cops immediately began chasing the van, which crashed about a mile later. The suspects jumped out and ran away, but officers arrested four of them not long after.
Officers rescued the couple, who were in the back of the van with duct tape around their arms and legs. The male victim was suffering from head trauma after the suspects punched him and beat him with a bat, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut.
The victims described how they were driving when a Honda Civic rear-ended them and a van cut them off. According to cops, the suspects got out and “forcibly removed” the man and woman and shoved them in the van. They beat up the male victim when he tried to get away, per the affidavit.
As the suspects were driving away, the couple quickly heard sirens. One of the suspects allegedly yelled “we are in deep s—” and told the driver to put the pedal to the metal.
After arresting the four suspects in the van, investigators tracked the other two men to a rented house in Roxbury. Cops also recovered the stolen vehicle and the female victim’s Coach wallet. The suspects, all from Florida, are identified as Angel Borrero, 23, Josue Alberto Romero, 26, Reynaldo Diaz, 20, Anthony Pena, 23, Michael Rivas, 18 and Ricardo Estrada, 21. They are facing federal and state charges including kidnapping, carjacking and conspiracy.
Investigators later determined Borrero was the ringleader as he planned the brazen crime and paid for all six suspects to fly from Florida to New York, according to the complaint. Cops recovered a group chat between all seven suspects indicating they planned to carry out more crimes. “If this good we out to Cali next,” Borrero allegedly texted his cohorts. He also expressed extreme confidence in them: “Tbh this group is perfect for this,” he reportedly stated.
Detectives also uncovered video footage that allegedly showed the men casing the couple outside their home before they went on their house-hunting trip.
On Sept. 19, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., announced the unsealing of the indictment of 20-year-old Malone Lam of Miami and Los Angeles and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano, also of Los Angeles, with conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency from a victim. Federal prosecutors allege Lam, Serrano and co-conspirators who have not been identified began stealing the crypto in August and laundered it through various exchanges.
“The conspirators would fraudulently gain access to victim cryptocurrency accounts and then transfer victim funds into their possession,” prosecutors wrote. “They laundered the proceeds, including by moving the funds through various mixers and exchanges using “peel chains,” pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their true identities.”
Lam and Serrano allegedly bought international plane tickets, nightclubs, jewelry and designer handbags.
Danbury police Det. Sgt. Steven Castrovinci told the News-Times that the couple was targeted because of their son’s alleged involvement in the crypto scheme. Castrovinci said the couple’s son has previously been the victim of “swatting calls” tied to his “gaming.”
“At the time the kidnapping occurred, we did not know the son was involved — but we had an idea that he might have been because of previous police calls,” Castrovinci said.
Cops wanted to interview the son, but the FBI reportedly told them to back off.
“We were contacted by the FBI and told there’s an ongoing investigation into the son in regards to a cryptocurrency theft that occurred,” he said. “That’s how we knew — and even at that time, we didn’t really know to what extent he was involved in it. We just knew that there was an investigation into him regarding a crypto heist.”
“We’ve been contacted by other law enforcement agencies in regards to the suspects,” he reportedly said. “There are ongoing investigations into these kids throughout the south and possibly the west.”
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