A man who is suspected of providing the funds to carry out a violent carjacking and kidnapping in Danbury last August has been arrested.
The carjacking and kidnapping happened on Aug. 25 and Danbury police arrested six Florida men who were suspected of carjacking a Lamborghini Urus and the kidnapping the two people inside on that day, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
They said the investigation revealed that the kidnapping victims are the parents of someone who is suspected of participating in the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Federal officials said James Schwab, 22, of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, had an altercation with the victims’ son in a Miami nightclub in July 2024 and, in the days before the carjacking was in regular communication with some of the alleged kidnappers.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he is suspected of providing the funding for it and helping arrange the transportation and lodging for the people who carried it out.
Schwab was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on Jan. 29 at Los Angeles International Airport after he returned to the U.S. from a trip to Bali, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and has been detained since his arrest.
A grand jury returned an indictment on Feb. 25 charging Schwab with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
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Schwab appeared in Bridgeport federal court on March 12 and pleaded not guilty.
Five of the six people who were charged in connection with the carjacking and kidnapping have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
