Did This Norwegian Multimillionaire Invent a Cryptocurrency Ransom to Cover Up the Murder of His Wife?

Tom Hagen’s wife Anne-Elisabeth disappeared in Norway in October 2018. Hagen cofounded the electric company Elkraft in 1992, and the case drew attention for his wealth—his net worth is reportedly about $200 million—as well as its mysterious circumstances. As the original story went, Anne-Elisabeth was kidnapped on October 31 that year; a ransom note demanding 9 million euros in the cryptocurrency Monero was left at the scene.

But on Tuesday, Norwegian police arrested Hagen. Investigators said they believe that the original version of events was false, a concoction to mislead police about Anne-Elisabeth’s murder.

“As the case initially appeared, our main theory was that Anne-Elisabeth Hagen had been abducted by someone with a financial motive. And in June 2019, we came to believe that she had most likely been killed,” Øst Police District said in a statement

“We now believe there was no abduction and there was never any genuine negotiations. In other words there was a…