An unspecified woman may have played a role in the quadruple kidnapping that occurred last June involving Kevin Mirshahi, a cryptocurrency enthusiast caught up in several tensions. The latter was allegedly killed in the basement of the mobile home of the thirty-year-old, now accused of murder.
The story so far
Mid-June: Kevin Mirshahi is violently attacked while he is in a supper club from downtown Montreal. His vehicle was also damaged.
June 21: Kevin Mirshahi, two women and a man are kidnapped. The group was returning from a party and was in the Old Port of Montreal when they were abducted.
June 22: Three of the four kidnapping victims are found, while Kevin Mirshahi remains missing. Authorities believe he was beaten and killed.
August 22: Arrest by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) of Joanie Lepage, alleged accomplice in this homicide. She faces charges of murder, kidnapping and accessory after the facts.
Joanie Lepage, 32, was charged Thursday with the premeditated murder of Kevin Mirshahi as well as accessory after the fact. She also faces charges of kidnapping the young man and three other people.
Kevin Mirshahi’s body has not been found by authorities. According to our information, the victim in his twenties was killed in the basement of a mobile home belonging to Joanie Lepage. The latter is said to have rented or lent her home in Les Cèdres, Montérégie, to accomplices. The residence had already been searched two months ago.
Kevin Mirshahi, a well-known influencer in the cryptocurrency world, was the main target of the kidnapping that occurred in late June. He was reportedly abducted from the underground parking lot of the Old Montreal building where he lived. He was accompanied by three other people, two women and a man. The latter were also kidnapped and found the next day.
Joanie Lepage is the only suspect charged in this case for the moment, but other arrests could follow.
At the heart of tensions
According to several individuals from the underworld, Kevin Mirshahi was attacked about a week before his disappearance in a supper club downtown Montreal. A man allegedly attacked him, smashed the windows of his shiny Lamborghini and stole a piece of jewelry. The assailant allegedly demanded a large sum of money in exchange for his stolen necklace.
According to our information, this event is linked to street gangs.
It is not known, however, whether the episode of violence that occurred before her disappearance is directly linked to the kidnapping. Apparently, the victim was at the heart of numerous financial disputes with people gravitating around street gangs.
Other sources indicate that the kidnapping could have been an order.
Threats and cryptocurrency
Police had placed Kevin Mirshahi’s residence under surveillance in the past, he told The Press in 2021. He had received threats following a cryptocurrency fraud case in which hundreds of investors collectively lost $2 million. They had invested in a cryptocurrency project that Mr. Mirshahi was promoting.
Among the investors were minors, who had borrowed money from their parents to invest.
Kevin Mirshahi found himself in the sights of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) since neither the financing project nor the cryptocurrency promotion campaign had been approved.
The court subsequently banned him from carrying out any activity as a broker or investment advisor.
With information from Daniel Renaud, The Press