Italian man kidnapped in bizarre NY crypto plot: court docs
NEW YORK: A cryptocurrency investor has been charged with kidnapping an Italian man for weeks, threatening and torturing him with a gun and a chainsaw in a grisly bid to extort his bitcoin password, court documents and US media said.
In a plot like a bad Hollywood thriller, New York police told AFP on Sunday that they arrested 37-year-old John Woeltz, a Kentucky man, on Friday in the posh Manhattan apartment he was renting.
Woeltz was charged Saturday with kidnapping, assault and criminal possession of a gun and pleaded not guilty, according to documents seen by AFP. A second person, 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi, is also being held.
The police said the victim, a 28-year-old Italian whose name has not been released, managed to escape and ran up to a traffic agent with a horrific tale of having been held, bound and tortured for weeks before managing to escape from Woeltz's townhouse.
The victim initially went to Woeltz's apartment on May 6. The two are believed to have had some previous business connection.
Upon arrival, Woeltz and an unidentified accomplice, who has yet to be named or caught, seized the Italian's passport and electronic devices and demanded the access codes for his Bitcoin accounts.
When he refused, according to the reports, the two men tied him up, struck him with a gun, pointed it at his face, menaced him with a chainsaw and even took him to the fifth floor of the building, threatening to throw him over the edge if he did not relent.
They also reportedly threatened to kill members of his family.
Several details of the story remain murky, including exactly why the victim had agreed to come to the townhouse in an upscale SoHo neighborhood, and whether he revealed anything of use to the kidnappers.
More details are expected to come out at a court hearing scheduled for May 28.
The grisly tale emerged as the bitcoin cryptocurrency this week set a new record, at US$109,856 (RM 461,889) .
While cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum are said to be highly secure, they have faced numerous cyberattacks seeking to exploit weak spots in exchange platforms.
In February, according to the FBI, North Korean hackers stole a historic US$1.5bil (RM6.3bil) from the Bybit platform. – AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Thai man mourns wife, children killed in shelling
Sudden loss: Komsan lost his wife and two children. — Reuters When the Thai and Cambodian armies began shelling at their contested border on Thursday, Komsan Prachan thought his family was far enough away from the fighting to be safe. The farm worker received a phone call from his children's school asking parents to collect their kids, so he and his wife went and picked up their 14-year-old daughter, nine-year-old son and their son's friend. On the way home, they stopped at a gas station about 3km from their house. Moments later, an artillery shell slammed into the station, destroying the attached 7-Eleven where Komsan's family and the friend had gone to buy snacks. 'All I was thinking then was, my wife and kids,' the 40-year-old told Reuters at a relative's home in Sisaket province. 'I lost all hope. I could only stand and watch.' More than 30 people, mostly civilians, have been killed on both sides of the border since the fighting started on Thursday, in what has become the worst escalation between the two South-East Asian nations in more than a decade. Both sides have accused each other of starting the conflict. Komsan could hear explosions from early on Thursday morning, but he did not think that he needed to evacuate because his house was not in a danger zone. When a Cambodian artillery shell slammed into a convenience store. — Reuters 'I didn't think it would hit this area. There was no bunker around that area as it was considered a safe zone.' Komsan and his wife met in high school. They got married after working together for several years in Bangkok and raised their two children. 'Having them in my life was the greatest blessing,' he said. More than 130,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, with schools forced to close their doors. Local university campuses are being used as temporary shelters for those forced to flee their homes. 'The war is good for no one. They should both talk to each other peacefully. The war only brings loss, loss and loss,' said Komsan. The bereaved husband and father accused the Cambodian government of indiscriminately firing into civilian areas. 'This is not just war, this is murder.' — Reuters
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Why Saudi Arabia's execution numbers are surging in 2025
DUBAI, July 28 — Saudi Arabia has escalated its use of capital punishment, executing more than 200 people so far this year — putting the kingdom on track to surpass last year's record. Experts say the surge in executions comes as the Gulf state aims to crack down on drug trafficking. The Arab world's largest economy is also one of the biggest markets for captagon, an illicit stimulant that was Syria's largest export under Bashar al-Assad — according to the United Nations. Assad was ousted in December. Saudi Arabia is on course for breaking its record of 338 people put to death last year — the highest since public records first documented the cases in the early 1990s. Here's a quick rundown of what to know about the death penalty's use in Saudi Arabia. Why the surge now? Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 144 people for drug-related offences — representing a vast majority of the 217 people put to death this year. Analysts link the spike to the kingdom's 'war on drugs' launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested only now being executed following their legal proceedings and convictions. Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the use of the death penalty in narcotics cases for around three years. It executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, according to an AFP tally. Since launching its war on drugs, the country has increased the presence of police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, where millions of pills have been confiscated and dozens of traffickers arrested. 'It's clear that Saudi Arabia opted to double down on arrests... and harsh penalties for those perceived to be affiliated with drug trades inside Saudi Arabia,' said Caroline Rose, a senior analyst at the New Lines Institute in Washington. Saudi officials did not respond to AFP's questions regarding this issue. Who is being executed? Foreigners are largely bearing the brunt of the campaign to date. Saudi Arabia has long relied on millions of foreign workers to help build its vast infrastructure projects, serve as domestic help for families and staff hotels and other sectors linked to the hospitality industry. 'Foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable to due process and fair trial violations in the context of the death penalty,' said Jeed Basyouni, from the London-based rights organisation Reprieve. So far this year, 121 foreigners have been executed — mostly for drug-linked crimes. Earlier this month, Amnesty International lambasted the spike in executions. 'We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty,' said Kristine Beckerle, the group's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. Saudis are also being executed, with three put to death in the past week after being convicted of terrorism charges. This year, 96 Saudis have been executed out of the 217 individuals put to death. Is it working? Well, it's hard to say. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef vowed at the start of the campaign that 'drug dealers and smugglers will not survive it'. And last month, Saudi public security director Mohammed al-Bassami said the war on drugs 'has achieved tangible positive results, with strong blows to drug dealers and smugglers', according to the prominent Okaz newspaper. However, there is little data provided to back up these claims and daily arrests continue. 'There is no evidence to substantiate the use of the death penalty as a deterrent, particularly for drug crimes,' said Reprieve's Basyouni. Do the executions clash with reforms? Saudi Arabia is spending big on tourist infrastructure and top sports events such as the 2034 World Cup as it tries to diversify its oil-reliant economy. But activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Vision's 2030 reform agenda. Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted. The kingdom drew global condemnation after the 2018 murder and dismemberment of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After briefly unsettling US relations, President Donald Trump has whole-heartedly embraced Saudi Arabia and focused more on signing business deals than criticising its rulers over rights issues. During a tour of the Gulf countries in May, Trump gushed over the crown prince saying: 'I like you too much!'. — AFP
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Several killed in train crash in Germany, media say, citing security sources
(Reuters) -Several people were killed when a passenger train derailed in southwestern Germany near the town of Biberach, close to the border with France, German media reported on Sunday, citing security sources. Police in Stuttgart, who were cited by media in initial reports of the crash, were not immediately available for comment. A picture published in German media showed carriages had left the tracks and rolled over. (Reporting by Francois MurphyEditing by Ros Russell)
