⚠️JUST IN: Crypto “Godfather” Adam Iza Pleads Guilty to Orchestrating Kidnapping Over $245M Bitcoin Heist

25-year-old Adam Iza, also known as Ahmed Faiq, a California-based cryptocurrency mogul who referred to himself as “The Godfather,” pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. Federal prosecutors are seeking at least 14 years in prison.

The case stems from an August 2024 carjacking in Danbury, Connecticut, where six men pulled a couple — Sushil and Radhika Chetal — from their Lamborghini SUV in broad daylight, beat them with a baseball bat, dragged the woman by her hair, bound them with duct tape, and forced them into a white van. An off-duty FBI agent and multiple witnesses called police, leading to a chase, crash, and all six suspects being arrested.

The couple’s son, Veer Chetal, had stolen 4,100 Bitcoin (~$245M) from a Washington, D.C. resident weeks earlier by impersonating Google and crypto exchange support staff. He and two accomplices spent millions on cars, jewelry, mansions, and nightclub parties before being arrested. Iza orchestrated the parents’ kidnapping to extort a share of the stolen crypto.

Before the kidnapping charges, Iza was already under federal investigation in California for running an extortion operation out of a Bel Air mansion. He paid ~$100K/month to a private security firm staffed by off-duty LA County sheriff’s deputies, using them as personal enforcers — intimidating rivals, running illegal database searches, obtaining fraudulent warrants, and in one case holding a victim at gunpoint to force a $25,000 transfer.

Iza also admitted to stealing over $37 million by fraudulently accessing Meta Platforms’ business manager accounts and lines of credit between 2020 and 2022. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy against rights, and tax evasion in that case. He also reportedly spent money on cosmetic surgery to lengthen his legs.

All six Florida men who carried out the kidnapping have pleaded guilty. Two have been sentenced to 11 years. Two alleged co-conspirators James Schwab and Iza’s brother Saif Faiq have pleaded not guilty.

The case is part of an increasing global trend of cryptocurrency theft spilling over into real-world violence, with physical attacks, kidnappings, and extortion becoming more common as the sums involved grow larger.

@arch