The attack occurred in Soi Cherng Talay 16 at about 1am on Sunday (Dec 11), noted the report to police.
The report, received by Capt Yanapat Malai, deputy inspector at Cherng Talay Police, was submitted at 5:52pm on Sunday.
The report confirmed the amounts stolen, and that both victims said they did not know the assailants.
The copy of the police report presented to The Phuket News had obscured the names of the two people attacked, but confirmed they were both Russian nationals.
A medical report by MIssion Hospital Phuket issued on Sunday confirmed that one of the two people attacked was 27 years old and had suffered bruises and abrasions in the attack.
News of the attack and armed extortion became public after “Leo | Cryptus”, introducing himself as co-creator of the virtual currency Cryptus, on Monday posted in Russian language on the web platform Telegram.
“Leo” urged people to help publicise news of the attack.
“Now my team and I live in Phuket. An armed robbery took place 2 days ago, kidnapping my partners. At this stage, we have written a statement to the police and passed on information about the gunman and the alleged organiser of the abduction,” Leo wrote.
The attackers were Russian speakers, he confirmed.
“Kidnappers of my partners threatened with guns and knives, tied hands,” Leo reported. “As a result, $25,000 was stolen by extortion.”
“We are now preparing a press release for the media with a detailed account of the situation, a recording of the conversation with the gunman and photographs of the [damage done by the] beatings,” Leo continued.
“I would very much like to ask you to publish the release [this] data in your community, I think that it will be useful for the inhabitants of Phuket to know that a gang is operating on the island that hunts down guys with crypto and kidnaps them,” he added.
The complaint filed with police marked that the victims asked police to pursue their investigation to the full extent of the law.
Taswegian | 16 December 2022 - 11:21:35