Federal investigators are seeking the banking information of a car salesman who authorities say is suspected of kidnapping a paralyzed man in Tennessee and taking nearly $200,000 from his accounts while threatening to kill him.
An affidavit by Chattanooga Police Officer Matthew Hennessee requests a warrant to seize a bank account belonging to Daniel Bryant. An FBI task force member, Hennessee wrote that the seizure was part of an investigation into allegations of kidnapping, bank robbery and money laundering.
It was not clear Tuesday if Bryant had been formally charged or arrested.
Documents show police were called to a Chattanooga bank on Thursday and spoke with a man who had an amputated leg and was paralyzed on one side. The man said he was kidnapped April 1 and forced by Bryant to withdraw thousands in cashier’s checks and cash over a two-day period from Bank of America locations in Chattanooga and Douglasville, Georgia.
Bryant then deposited $199,000 into his own bank accounts, the affidavit said.
The man, who was not identified, said Bryant was a car salesman who offered to drive the man home after he dropped off his pickup truck for service at a Chattanooga dealership. The man said he had received a financial settlement from severe injuries suffered at work, documents show.
The man said Bryant threatened to kill him and his family if he did not withdraw the money, the affidavit said. Bryant also allegedly took the man to a hotel near Atlanta, took the man’s credit cards and forced him to smoke crack cocaine, the affidavit said.
There is probable cause to file charges of kidnapping, money laundering and bank robbery, Hennessee wrote.
