Elderly N.C. couple was held hostage in their home and robbed of $156,000 in cryptocurrency

An elderly North Carolina couple was held hostage in their home by armed men who threatened to “cut off (the) husband’s toes and genitalia, to shoot him, and to rape his wife,” before they were robbed of more than $156,000 in cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege that while pretending to be construction workers Elmer Ruben Castro and Remy Ra St. Felix went to the couple’s Durham home around 7:30 a.m. on April 12 and claimed they needed to inspect pipes for damage, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.