Canadian authorities this week arrested Finbar Hughes, a man accused of threatening neighbors in the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, Canada, with burning down their homes if he did not receive payments in bitcoin.
Calgary police identified Hughes following an arson attack in the northwest Calgary community of Hillhurst. After an extensive investigation, he was arrested on December 4.
Police say Hughes is the apparent suspect in an attempt to set fire to another home in order to force victims to pay him in bitcoin. In addition to his activities in Calgary, Hughes is believed to be linked to three similar incidents in Edmonton last October.
The Edmonton Police Service reported that fires broke out in the Holyrood neighbourhood on two separate occasions: on September 23, a vehicle was set on fire, and on October 19, a house suffered the same fate. In the Cloverdale neighbourhood, also in Edmonton, another house was targeted on October 13.
In each of these incidents, handwritten notes were found instructing the owners to pay an extortion fee of around $1,400 in BTC or risk the destruction of their property. According to one of the notes, the perpetrator urged the victims to purchase the BTC through Coinbase, ATMs, or a local exchange called MyBTC.ca, and then send it to a wallet.
One of the threatening notes demanding payment in BTC. Source: CTV News.
In October, a fire that appeared to be arson was reported and completely destroyed a home. Fire crews responded around 3:30 a.m. on a Sunday to the residence near 95th Street and 97th Avenue. Although the flames engulfed the home, the four occupants managed to escape without injury. Police later found handwritten notes in neighboring homes demanding payment in BTC under threat of arson.
This modus operandi is not unique to Hughes. In June 2023, US authorities investigated a series of threats against several Walmart stores, where criminals demanded bitcoin, gift cards or fiat money under the threat of causing explosions in the commercial premises. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are urging anyone who may have received notes or has information related to these incidents to contact police.
