OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
2:01 PM – Monday, July 31, 2023
New details have emerged about an elderly couple that were held hostage inside their own home and robbed of more than $150,000 in cryptocurrency.
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According to an FBI criminal complaint, the 76-year-old couple were both held at gunpoint on the morning of April 12th after two Black men dressed as construction workers claimed to be inspecting pipes for damage. They were both wearing reflective vests and khaki pants.
The suspects, identified as Elmer Ruben Castro (Perpetrator-1) and Remy Ra St. Felix (Perpetrator-2), soon knocked on the door again after telling the husband that they would walk around the house. The wife answered, and the men pushed their way into the residence and were able to restrain the couple as well as zip tie their hands.
“The wife was dragged by the legs into a bathroom and detained by the smaller of the two men (Perpetrator-1),” the complaint said.
Felix then forced the husband to log into his Coinbase cryptocurrency account. The husband said Felix was using his cellphone to talk to another suspect on speaker, identified as Jardon Gabriel Seemungal (Perpetrator-3). Seemungal provided Felix instructions on how to transfer money from the husband’s account. “The husband described Perpetrator-3 as tech savvy… he knew details about the account without being told,” the complaint noted.
Meanwhile over the next 45 minutes, the suspects were able to transfer $156,853 worth of cryptocurrency out of the husband’s account.
“Perpetrator-2 threatened to cut off husband’s toes and genitalia, to shoot him, and to rape his wife if he didn’t’ access his Coinbase account. Perpetrator-2 also struck the husband in the head.”
Both of the men were armed, and Perpetrator-1 even showed the wife that it was loaded by opening the revolver’s cylinder.
The suspects next smashed the husbands computer and couples cell phones, threw the husband into the bathroom with the wife, and left. The couple was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Investigators were able to tie the suspects to the robbery through surveillance, as well as credit card and cell phone records. Text messages also showed the suspects discussing events before and after the crime, and at least two of them logged into their Coinbase accounts after receiving thousands of dollars the day of the robbery.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Seemungal and Felix, who have been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Meanwhile, no charges against Castro have been listed.
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