PHUKET: Five Russian men have been sentenced to two years in jail each for abducting a Russian couple on this resort island province, forcing them to transfer more than 30 million baht worth of cryptocurrency.
The ruling by the Phuket Provincial Court was announced at 2pm on Wednesday.
The court initially handed down a four-year jail term to the five defendants for collusion in coercion, illegal detention and related offences.
The terms were commuted to two years each without suspension due to their confession.
According to the court, the five men were found guilty of abducting a Russian couple, although a previous police report stated that the two were Belarusian nationals.
The couple alleged that a group of men abducted them in front of a restaurant near the Lor Rong intersection in Muang district around 10pm on Jan 31 this year.
The couple were taken in a black Hyundai van and forced to transfer US$901,200, or about 31 million baht, worth of cryptocurrency. After the transfers were made, the gang released them, who immediately filed a complaint.
The first two Russian men were later found in a room in the area, while the other two were held at Phuket airport as they were about to leave the country. Subsequently, a fifth suspect, reported to be the mastermind, was apprehended at a massage shop on Patong beach and interrogated separately.
All five suspects initially denied any involvement.