Accused of robbing and kidnapping a cryptocurrency influencer | He uses Lamborghini accidents to stay in the United States

A man accused of kidnapping a French influencer to steal cryptocurrency in a quasi-Hollywood ambush will have to return to Quebec for his trial. On the run in the United States, the accused claimed to be too injured to move after Lamborghini accidents.

“Without convincing reason and in breach of several conditions, he left Canada on the eve of what he believed to be his court date, never to return. […]”On the basis of suspect medical evidence, he is seeking to control when and how he will participate in the legal debate. Such an approach cannot be endorsed,” Judge Marc-André Dagenais concluded last month.

The fugitive accused, Michael-Elie Moussalem, wanted to attend his trial, scheduled for next fall at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse, by videoconference. However, Judge Dagenais rejected his request to do so, then reactivated the arrest warrant for the accused. He has been in the United States illegally since his visa expired last year.

This 28-year-old former resident of Mont-Royal is accused of robbery, kidnapping, assault causing bodily harm and conspiracy.

He is suspected of plotting to frame a French cryptocurrency influencer, Michael Monteverde, aka “mickalamasse”.

In December 2021, the accused allegedly hosted his victim in Quebec to discuss a cryptocurrency business project. He then allegedly lured the influencer to a luxury chalet to allow armed accomplices to steal his cryptocurrency wallet. The stolen $30,000 in crypto was allegedly directed to an account belonging to the accused.

In an interview with The Press Last winter, Michael Monteverde described a nightmarish night¹. According to his account, three masked and armed men arrived at the chalet in the Laurentians. The French influencer claims to have fought with his attackers, then to have been tied up by them. He was seriously injured in the head and leg.

In Las Vegas before his appearance

Michael-Elie Moussalem fled to the United States in October 2022, when he was supposed to hand over his passport to authorities, the decision reveals. Four days before his promised appearance date, the Quebecer flew to Las Vegas. He has never returned to Canada since.

An arrest warrant was then issued in December 2022. However, a justice of the peace deemed it sufficient, in March 2023, that the accused be present by videoconference – an error, according to Judge Dagenais. He was therefore released, on the condition that he reside with his parents in Mont-Royal. But the accused never went there.

Michael-Elie Moussalem explained to the Court that he remained in California because he had about fifteen meetings almost daily in the context of his business involving “stars” and non-fungible tokens.

However, he was unable to provide details about these meetings. These explanations were “not very credible”, according to the judge.

The accused claims to be unable to fly or drive to Quebec because of serious injuries sustained last year. He claims to have been injured in a first accident in his sister’s Lamborghini Urus, a $260,000 luxury SUV. Two months later, he says he was involved in an even more serious accident in the same vehicle.

“His very surprising assertions that the discs in his spine are all displaced and that the pressurized environment of an airplane cabin would be fatal to them are not supported by any document provided,” concluded Judge Dagenais, dismissing the accused’s “suspect” medical evidence.

In another appeal, the Quebec government is attempting to confiscate from the accused numerous assets that he allegedly obtained through illegal activities, including a condominium allegedly obtained fraudulently. He is criminally charged with manufacturing and using false documents in this regard.

The Attorney General of Quebec wants to get his hands on Michael-Elie Moussalem’s cryptocurrency wallet, valued at $219,000, as well as luxury jewelry found in his bedroom at his parents’ home and in an apartment, according to a request filed last winter.

M^e Emmanuelle Viau-Smith, M^e Eric Bernier and M^e Jonathan Rabchuk represents the public prosecutor, while Mr.^e Maxime Raymond defends the criminal defendant.

1. Read “Trapped in a Laurentian Chalet”