Overview
- The violent abduction of Sushil and Radhika Chetal occurred on Aug. 25, 2024, when masked men pulled the couple from their SUV, beat and bound them, and attempted to drive them away before witnesses and police stopped the van.
- Adam Iza, 25, admitted on Monday, June 1, in Bridgeport federal court that he conspired to interfere with commerce by robbery in the plot to seize proceeds from a separate bitcoin theft.
- The kidnapping was aimed at seizing part of a 4,100‑bitcoin haul worth about $245 million at the time, a theft in which the couple’s son, Veer Chetal, pleaded guilty in November 2025 after prosecutors say he helped impersonate tech‑support staff to steal the coins.
- Prosecutors say Iza ran a Bel Air crypto firm, paid roughly $100,000 a month to a private security company that used off‑duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies as enforcers, and has already pleaded guilty in California to separate frauds that stole more than $37 million from Meta accounts.
- Federal cases against Iza’s hired operatives and implicated deputies are ongoing, with six Florida men tied to the van attack pleading guilty and two already sentenced to 11 years, and the matter highlights how large crypto thefts can spill into violent, cross‑state enforcement by organized networks.