Australian crypto businessman subjected to kidnapping attempt in Estonia
Date: 2025-07-03 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
According to local media reports, one of the attackers was former boxer Allahverdi Allahverdiyev from Azerbaijan. During the fight, he tried to gag the businessman, but the latter bit his finger and managed to escape, reaching the apartment. However, Heath himself did not escape uninjured - he lost a tooth in the scuffle. After the unsuccessful attempt, the attackers fled.
The investigation established that Heath was followed in advance: a GPS tracker was attached to his car. The criminal group is believed to have entered Estonia with fake passports from Georgia and prepared for the attack for several days. For conspiracy, they bought painters' clothes. The plan was to take the businessman to a rented sauna and force him to hand over his crypto assets.
As a result of the police operation, Allahverdiyev and Georgian citizen Ilgar Mamedov, who, according to law enforcement, was the driver and took the accomplices away from the crime scene, were detained. Mamedov himself claims that he came to the country as a tourist and has nothing to do with the crime. Two more suspects, including the alleged organizer Najaf Najafli, are wanted. According to Allahverdiyev, he was promised 100,000 euros for participating in the kidnapping, but he allegedly tried to convince the others to abandon the plan and only staged the attack.
A few weeks after the attack, Tim Heath received a message via Telegram with photos of his house. The attackers demanded that he transfer 30 bitcoins to them, but the businessman ignored the threat. There were no further attempts at blackmail, but the police considered that Heath could still be in danger. After the incident, he left Estonia and returned to Australia, having spent more than $3.1 million on security and relocation. His lawyers are now seeking compensation for these expenses.
Tim Heath is known as the founder of Yolo Group and the investment fund Yolo Investments, which are engaged in projects in the field of financial technologies, cryptocurrencies and gambling. According to estimates, the entrepreneur's fortune is about 2.46 billion Australian dollars or $1.61 billion.
Similar incidents have occurred before: last year in Moscow, teenagers involved in crypto trading became victims of robbery, and in Thailand, police are looking for Russians who stole cryptocurrency from a compatriot.
