Mark Cheng, a cryptocurrency and ICO advisor known for his work with Avelife, a non-profit socio-economic organization was recently kidnapped during a business trip to Thailand. According to reports by China Morning Post, Cheng was in Thailand to meet with a partner, Kim Lee Yao Wei when he was grabbed by some men and taken to a secret location in a truck.

 He was later tortured and asked to transfer cryptocurrency worth 1 million Singapore dollars valued at $740,000. But he was able to transfer $46,000 in digital assets which is all the coins he owns. Unsatisfied, his abductors decided to have him executed probably to cover their tracks. He is lucky to be alive.

Speaking to the Singapore news agency Lianhe Wanbao, he said:

“One of them held the gun against the back of my head while the others stepped away. Fortunately, I know martial arts. I reached behind my head and grabbed the pistol, and then I fled.”

Interestingly, Cheng alleged that the truck with which he was transported after being grabbed by the mob belongs to the actor Chano Pemberger effectively implicating the man who the police have said is a person of interest in the case. Also fingered in the crime is Cheng’e business partner, Kim Lee Yao Wei who has been accused of being the mastermind of the kidnapping.

Cheng was a part of the X Infinity initial coin offering as an advisor in 2018. That project has been moribund since the end of the ICO. He was accused of misappropriating funds in an earlier investment scheme in 2016. There is no indication that the previous incidents have correlation with his abduction.