2 more arrests in death of Montreal cryptocurrency influencer

Two more people have been arrested in connection with the death of a cryptocurrency influencer whose body was found in a Montreal nature park last month. 

Quebec provincial police said Tuesday that Darius Perry, a 27-year-old from Châteauguay, Que., and Nackael Hickey, a 25-year-old from Montreal, are charged with kidnapping and being accessories after the alleged murder of Kevin Mirshahi.

Joanie Lepage, 32, has already been charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Mirshahi was kidnapped early on June 21 from a luxury condo in Old Montreal.

Three other people were kidnapped from the condo at the same time. Those people were found hours later, near a bus stop in Montreal's west end.

But Mirshahi remained missing. His body was found in L'Île-de-la-Visitation Nature Park on Oct. 30, in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

Police also located a burned-out SUV that is believed to have been used to transport the victims.

Based on the victims' testimony, police were able to locate a home in Les Cèdres, in the Montérégie region, where police believe Mirshahi's alleged murder took place.

Mirshahi was the subject of an investigation beginning in 2021 by Quebec's investment regulator, known as l'Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

According to public records, he was the owner and operator of a private group on the messaging app Telegram known as "Crypto Paradise Island" with 2,500 members, and used other social media platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat to promote cryptocurrency.

In July 2024, the AMF extended an order on Mirshahi, as well as a company and two other individuals, prohibiting their activity as a "broker or investment adviser" as well as a ban on securities transactions and the withdrawal of certain social media publications.