Investor Evan Luthra details $2M Oxford kidnapping and crypto theft

Evan Luthra, a well-known crypto millionaire and investor, has publicly described a violent kidnapping he endured in Oxford, England, last year. Five masked men forced him to transfer more than $2 million in digital assets within 30 minutes.

Police never identified him as the victim at the time. In a new interview, Luthra said the most expensive phase came after the ordeal, when he was without a phone as the stolen funds moved through exchanges.

30 Minutes of Nightmare

A Forbes 30 Under 30 investor, Luthra was in London for Halloween. The trip also included receiving an award at the House of Lords and giving a speech at Oxford University.

On 4 November 2025, he left the Oxford event with four friends. A private driver, arranged through an acquaintance, had been driving him for several days beforehand.

On the drive back to London, the driver swerved onto a tree-lined lane. Five men in masks climbed into the car, punched Luthra, and made it clear the others were not the targets.

"Within the first ten seconds, I realised this was a kidnapping. I also realised I was going to lose millions of dollars," Luthra told BeInCrypto.

He chose not to resist.

"There were five guys in my kidnapping, so I gave them everything," he said.

The kidnappers started by taking a limited-edition Richard Mille watch, which police later valued at about £450,000. They then unlocked his phone with his Face ID.

From his Binance account, they took assets worth just over $1.5 million. They also drained roughly $600,000 in Ethereum (ETH) from his Gate exchange account before trying to access his bank accounts.

After roughly half an hour, the assailants left, taking everyone’s phones. Police said the vehicle was abandoned in the Five Mile Drive area of north Oxford.

"They already knew who I was. I have a pretty public profile. The promoter who arranged the driver knew who I was, and I believe he was involved in organizing what happened."

Why the Hours After the Oxford Kidnapping Cost Him Most

Without phones, the group walked to a local police station. The attack took place that afternoon, but they were still giving statements after midnight.

For all those hours Luthra had no internet. He could not call anyone or try to block the transfers already in motion from his accounts.

"Looking back, I consider that my biggest mistake. If I had first been able to get back to my hotel, access my laptop and message the people I knew at the exchanges, I believe we could have secured a lot more of the money."

The delay mattered because exchanges can usually freeze money only while it stays on their platforms. Once stolen crypto goes to private wallets or other services, recovery becomes much harder.

Even so, Luthra said the group was lucky. He was hit, but nobody suffered lasting harm.

In January 2026, former Ukrainian banker Alexandru Adarici was killed in Milan during an alleged kidnapping plot to extort €250,000 in cryptocurrency. That same month, attackers in France held a 74-year-old man for 16 hours, hurting his face and hand, while demanding €3 million in crypto from his son.

Several Crypto Exchanges Helped Luthra

Once Luthra reached his devices, he contacted his contacts at Binance and MEXC. Both exchanges froze some of the stolen funds and helped get part of them back.

Binance returned roughly $370,000. The recovery came through a UK court order under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which lets courts seize and hand back criminal proceeds.

Luthra said it was the first POCA order involving Binance. The London law firm Cooke, Young & Keidan obtained the orders and handled the recovery.

MEXC also blocked funds and provided data on where some of the remaining money went, assisting the tracing effort.

In total, Luthra said he has recovered just under $1 million. He declined to give an exact number, and much of the stolen money is still missing.

"The exchanges acted quickly once I reached them."

He believes that faster contact would have allowed more money to be frozen before it moved elsewhere.

Late in October 2026, Luthra spoke about the kidnapping on X, observing that some of the stolen funds had been blocked.

I was kidnapped last year and had over a million dollars stolen from my Binance account.

And right now, in the middle of the biggest hack crypto has ever seen, I still have almost $10M sitting on Binance.

Here's why. Part of that money got frozen after it was taken. A few…

The Case Will Not Reach Trial Until Late 2027

Thames Valley Police has led what Detective Sergeant Stuart McMaster called a “complex investigation.” It has covered CCTV, automatic number-plate cameras, and cryptocurrency and financial inquiries.

"We are supporting the victims and keeping them updated during our complex investigation," McMaster said in the force’s November 2025 appeal.

Officers arrested four men from London, Birmingham, and Kent that month, aged between 19 and 37. All were released on bail at the time.

In December 2025, police charged Abdul Malik Cali, 24, with five counts of conspiracy to commit robbery. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport and remanded in custody, according to local reports.

Luthra said several arrests have been made and the case involves multiple defendants. The trial was supposed to start this month but has been pushed back to November 2027.

According to Luthra, the court now needs five weeks instead of four. No opening that long was available earlier.

"I understand that they need to do it properly and give the case enough time. But it is still very disappointing to have to wait another year."

He added that police told him a robbery of this scale was unusual for Oxford in recent times.

Crypto Kidnappings are Increasing at a Dramatic Rate

Luthra thinks his high profile made him a target. “They already knew who I was. I have a pretty public profile,” he said.

His case fits a broader pattern known as wrench attacks, in which criminals use physical force to get victims to hand over crypto. According to Chainalysis, such attacks took a record $58 million in 2025.

The blockchain analytics firm counted another $30 million taken in the first half of 2026. France has seen the sharpest increase, including a recent home invasion targeting a crypto worker and his family.

Chainalysis also noted that attackers who cash out through exchanges leave the clearest trail. Luthra’s partial recovery shows that the window for recovery exists but closes very fast.

The broader rise in violent attacks means more prominent holders now face the same calculation Luthra made in that car.

"You can always make money. You can always buy another watch… But you cannot get back your life or undo permanent physical harm."