Prosecutors have revealed a sophisticated crypto heist involving a former LAPD officer and a man accused of having ties to Israeli organized crime, which led to a violent kidnapping attempt in Los Angeles late last year. On Friday, both suspects, ex-officer Eric Halem and alleged crime figure Gabby Ben, were denied bail after each pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Deputy District Attorney Jane Brownstone stated that the scheme had a single objective: to steal cryptocurrency from a teenager. Authorities allege that the 17-year-old victim ran a lucrative cryptocurrency operation from his LA apartment, where he stored a hard wallet containing approximately $350,000 in digital assets.
🔥 RED ALERT! EX-LAPD COP & ISRAELI MOB LINKED TO $300K CRYPTO HEIST & KIDNAPPING! 🔥
🚨 TRUE CRIME meets CRYPTO CHAOS 🚨
Eric Halem—former LAPD officer turned luxury car influencer—has been arrested and charged in a violent home invasion, crypto heist, and kidnapping tied to… pic.twitter.com/zMhryfP1Dh— RED NOTICE COIN (@RedNCoin) September 1, 2025
Israeli Fraudster and Ex-LAPD Officer Used a $250K Lamborghini Urus as Crypto Heist Getaway Vehicle
Prosecutors claim that Gabby Ben, a convicted fraudster who has been deported twice to Israel and is described in court as having “ties to the Israeli mafia,” helped orchestrate the attack along with Halem, who served 13 years in the LAPD before leaving in 2022 to pursue business ventures in technology and luxury rentals.
The crypto heist reportedly began on December 28, 2024, when six men, including Ben and Halem, traveled in a Lamborghini Urus and a Range Rover to the high-rise where the teenager lived.
Dressed in dark clothing, the group allegedly entered the building by entering the access code before proceeding into the apartment, where they restrained the victim’s girlfriend using LAPD-issued handcuffs. Armed and posing as police officers conducting a lawful raid, they waited for the teenager to return.
When the teen arrived, the group handcuffed him and demanded access to his digital wallets, according to prosecutors. Initially, he showed them an empty account, hoping to mislead the intruders, but the men escalated their threats.
Brownstone informed the court that the group warned they would shoot him in the foot and even waterboard him, turning on the shower to emphasize the threat. Only at that point did he surrender the code to a safe containing a hard-wired crypto wallet stored on a thumb drive, containing Bitcoin
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Ben and Halem Left Cash and Rolex Watches in Favour of Crypto
Ex-LAPD cop ERIC BENJAMIN HALEM was arrested for burglary. In May, he was arrested for insurance fraud as well. He was in the LAPD reserve as recently as April. https://t.co/BxUPoaQeT2 pic.twitter.com/B6CvQb5l4i
— WhosThatCop (@WhosThatCop) August 8, 2025
Prosecutors stated that surveillance footage captured Ben, Halem, and the others leaving approximately half an hour later, having taken the crypto wallet, but ignoring Rolex watches and piles of cash in the apartment.
Deputy District Attorney Brownstone argued that this indicated the group had come solely for the digital assets. Police are still searching for a sixth suspect believed to have played the most aggressive role.
In court, Halem’s attorney, Megan Maitia, argued that her client neither threatened the teenager nor profited from the crime, portraying him as financially depleted and vulnerable while in custody due to his background as a police officer.
She also questioned the credibility of the alleged victim’s claims regarding his cryptocurrency holdings, asking, “How does a 17-year-old do this?” As for Ben, his attorney, Kellen Davis, insisted that while his client has a history of fraud, he has no violent convictions and has complied with past court orders.
However, Brownstone emphasized Ben’s background in complex financial scams, including fraudulent “bust-out” bank schemes and the alleged impersonation of HVAC technicians to prey on elderly residents, viewing this as a pattern that fits the sophistication of the crypto-focused kidnapping.
Judge Victoria Wilson subsequently denied bail for both men, calling the crypto heist allegations, in particular the impersonation of police officers and the targeting of digital assets, “extremely troubling” and indicative of the potential for “great bodily harm” if either defendant were released.
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