São Paulo man arrested over bitcoin bomb threats; a metro ticket helped police catch him

Brazilian police have arrested a 42-year-old man accused of sending dozens of letters to residents of wealthy São Paulo districts and financial executives, threatening drone attacks loaded with explosives unless about $300,000 in bitcoin was paid. According to Bitcoin.com, Ítalo Francisco Mendes Barbiot was arrested on November 11; the break in the case came from a metro ticket bought with a phone app.

First letters arrived in early October

The first five letters arrived on October 2 at residents of a high-end condominium in Itaim Bibi, warning of attacks by drones loaded with dynamite and C4 if $300,000 in bitcoin was not delivered. In the following weeks, dozens more letters appeared in Itaim Bibi and Jardim Europa, near the Faria Lima financial district; recipients included a banking executive, the owner of a shopping center, and a relative of the late racing driver Ayrton Senna. The letters contained the victims' personal data and samples of the explosive nitropenta, and bore QR codes to make payment easier. Police seized 72 letters and estimate the stamps the suspect bought were enough for at least 130.

Cameras and a phone fare payment identified the suspect

Investigators traced the purchase of the stamps to a shop in Vila Mariana, where security cameras recorded a man in a cap and dark glasses paying in cash. Other cameras showed him leaving the shop, removing his glasses, and walking to the Ana Rosa metro station, where he paid for a ticket with an app on his own phone, rode five stations and got off at São Judas — the fare record identified him as Barbiot. A native of Porto Alegre with a background in computer science, Barbiot was unemployed and lived in a boarding house in downtown São Paulo. He confessed to sending the letters and said he acted out of financial desperation; no explosives were found in his home.

Similar case in 2019; charged with three counts of extortion

Investigators also linked Barbiot to a similar case in 2019, when letters threatening executives of a cryptocurrency brokerage demanded about $120,000 in bitcoin and contained ricin, a lethal poison. Prosecutors have charged him with three counts of extortion and with supplying, transporting and possessing explosive substances without authorization. Brazilian media have called him the “Brazilian Unabomber.”

Sources: Bitcoin.com; WEEX; Globo's Fantástico. The investigation continues.