Crypto trader kidnapped, tortured in NYC over bitcoin password. Miami man jailed
A Miami man was handcuffed Tuesday in New York City — accused of torturing a cryptocurrency trader and holding him hostage in an apartment for weeks to obtain his Bitcoin password, reports say.
William Duplessie, 33, faces charges of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault and criminal possession of a firearm, according to CNN. Duplessie turned himself in to police.
Public records show Duplessie has been living in Miami, just outside Brickell, since 2021. Duplessie was the CEO and co-founder of Pangea Blockchain International, which he established in 2019, according to a now-deleted page on the company's website.
In recent years, Miami has been a hub for cryptocurrency, with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez branding himself as 'America's crypto mayor.'
Duplessie is accused of conspiring with 37-year-old John Woeltz, who was arrested Friday, to hold the cryptocurrency trader hostage. According to CNN, Woeltz was cuffed after the trader — a 28-year-old Italian man who arrived to the U.S. on May 6 — escaped from the apartment.
The trader told police that while he was held captive, he had been threatened, beaten and shocked with electrical wires, according to the Associated Press. Duplessie and Woeltz, CNN reports, dangled the trader over a railing for refusing to divulge his Bitcoin password. They also allegedly pointed a gun at him and bound his wrists.
When police searched the apartment, they located unusual items, according to the AP: chicken wire, cocaine, a saw, body armor, night vision goggles and photos of the trader with a gun pointed at his head.
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