$500K in Crypto Taken as Mitroplus Labs CEO Kidnapped

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$500,000 in Crypto Taken as Mitroplus Labs CEO Kidnapped at Gunpoint

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: May 21, 2025

Key Takeaways

Festo Ivaibi, the CEO of Mitroplus Labs, was kidnapped near his home in Kampala and forced to send $500,000 in crypto;
The attackers wore military uniforms, claimed to be from the army, and sold Afro Token;
Mitroplus Labs links the assault to a broader pattern of crypto-related kidnappings in Uganda.

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$500,000 in Crypto Taken as Mitroplus Labs CEO Kidnapped at Gunpoint

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Festo Ivaibi, the founder of Mitroplus Labs, a company focused on blockchain education, was kidnapped and forced to send cryptocurrencies worth $500,000 to unknown attackers.

According to a statement shared in X's post on May 19, Ivaibi was kidnapped on May 17 near his home on Bunamwaya Road in Kampala.

The attackers wore military-style uniforms and claimed to be part of Uganda’s national defense force. They reportedly held Ivaibi at gunpoint and demanded that he give them access to his crypto wallets.

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A share of the funds came from Afro Token, a meme coin that Mitroplus Labs had issued on the Tron blockchain using the SunPump platform. The company said the attackers sold some Afro Token during the incident. Other funds were reportedly sent to a wallet on Binance $8.48B .

Mitroplus Labs said the group behind the attack may include fake traders, dishonest law enforcement officers, and two Chinese nationals.

According to their statement, this group has targeted other crypto users in similar ways. The company claims that nearly 50 other cases have been identified. Many of those investigations were dropped or ignored, possibly due to influence from people connected to the attackers.

Additionally, Mitroplus Labs described the incident as more than just a personal attack. They stated in a post on X:

What happened to our founder was not just an attack on one man, it was an attack on innovation, on education, and on the future of Africa’s digital economy.

On May 9, authorities in Las Vegas charged three teenagers with abducting a man and stealing $4 million in digital assets. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.