- Mirshahi, 25, was last seen on June 21 this year after being kidnapped from a Montreal condo building along with three other people
- A passerby discovered Mirshahi’s decomposing body at the Île-de-la-Visitation park around 10am on October 30
- Mirshahi owned and ran Crypto Paradise Island, a private investment group
On November 13, authorities in Montreal, Canada, said the dead body of a crypto influencer identified as Kevin Mirshahi was recovered. Local media reports revealed that the body was found at Île-de-la-Visitation park in Montreal’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough.
According to local media, The Gazette, a passerby discovered the decomposing body at the nature park around 10am on October 30. After the police were informed, an autopsy was conducted, and the body was identified as Kevin Mirshahi.
Mirshahi, 25, was last seen on June 21 this year after being kidnapped from a Montreal condo building along with three other people. According to Montreal police, the kidnapping took place around 4 a.m. after a 911 call reporting a conflict near de la Commune and St-Hubert Sts.
The three other abductees managed to escape, but Mirshahi remained missing. The police later transferred the investigation to Sûreté du Québec.
According to The Gazette, in August, a 32-year-old woman named Joanie Lepage was arrested by the police and charged with Mirshahi's first-degree murder.
Mirshahi was a popular figure in Montreal’s crypto community. He owned and ran Crypto Paradise Island, a private investment group. The investment regulator in Québec was also aware of Mirshahi, and in 2021 or shortly thereafter, it prohibited Mirshahi and two other individuals from engaging in broking or investment advising activities.
Mirshahi was under a “ban on carrying out any activity as a broker or investment adviser, a ban on securities transactions and orders for the withdrawal of publications on social media and the withdrawal of the name of the AMF,” per Coindesk. The ban was extended on July 4 this year.
Reports, however, said that despite the ban, he continued to run a group on Telegram named “Amir" that promoted cryptocurrency investments.
The incident contributes to a worrying pattern of murders and kidnappings of cryptocurrency executives and influencers, which are frequently carried out with the intention of stealing or recovering substantial sums of money.
According to reports, Dean Skurka, the CEO of WonderFi, a Canadian company, was kidnapped last week and had to pay a $1 million ransom to be freed.
Four suspects were detained in July on charges of abducting and killing a 29-year-old foreign national Bitcoiner in Kyiv, Ukraine, and pilfering $170,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
In August, six Malaysians were accused of kidnapping a Chinese national and extorting $1 million worth of stablecoin Tether.
CZ in court again as FTX sues him, Binance for $1.8 billion clawback
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Changpeng Zhao, founder and former chief executive officer of crypto exchange Binance, will have another day in court just weeks after he was released from prison.
This is because bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has sued Zhao, popularly known as CZ and Binance, to recover shares valued at $1.8 billion that it claims Sam Bankman-Fried, its jailed former chief executive, improperly repurchased in 2021.
