Millionaire tortured in New York bitcoin blackmail plot as off-duty cops arrested
Police say an off duty detective drove the victim to a house of horrors after polaroid pictures were found of his torture.
A pair of high-rolling crypto players – one dubbed the 'Crypto King of Kentucky' – allegedly tortured an Italian millionaire in a twisted bid to steal his Bitcoin, while using off-duty NYPD detectives with links to New York Mayor Eric Adams' security detail as their muscle.
The crypto playboys allegedly extorted bitcoin in a blackmail plot having threatened to kill his family then lured him by promising to return stolen Bitcoin. Police say an off duty detective drove the victim from the airport to a SoHo townhouse of horrors.
Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, 28, travelled from his home in Turin to Manhattan under the false promise of retrieving stolen cryptocurrency – only to be held hostage for 17 days.
Prosecutors say Carturan, a wealthy crypto trader worth an estimated £24 million, had already handed over some of his Bitcoin after the accused – John Woeltz, 33, and William Duplessie, 37 – after threats to kill his family.
The disturbing case took a darker turn this week as Manhattan prosecutors laid bare how Carturan was met at the airport by an NYPD officer moonlighting as private security and driven to the duo's sprawling eight-bedroom party pad in SoHo on May 6.
There, he was allegedly imprisoned and subjected to brutal beatings, psychological torment and threats to his life as the pair tried to extort access to the rest of his digital fortune.
Polaroid photos seized by police show the young Italian being pinned down with a crack pipe forced into his mouth, and in another harrowing image, held at gunpoint.
Carturan's ordeal – involving threats to throw him off a staircase unless he revealed his Bitcoin password – ended only when he made a dramatic escape last weekend, prompting the arrest of Woeltz and the surrender of Duplessie after what sources say was a weekend of partying in the Hamptons.
Inside the SoHo townhouse, police found a disturbing arsenal: a chainsaw, body armour, crack cocaine, night vision goggles, ballistic helmets, a loaded firearm – and a chilling collection of photographs documenting Carturan's captivity.
It also emerged that a second NYPD detective had been moonlighting with the accused in an unauthorised capacity. Both officers, one of whom previously served on Mayor Adams' own protection team, have been placed on modified duty as the scandal deepens.
Mayor Adams' press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, said: 'Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as they came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.'
Carturan was taken to Bellevue Hospital following his escape and is understood to be recovering from the trauma.
In court on Thursday, Woeltz's lawyer insisted his client – a college-educated tech entrepreneur with no prior convictions – should be released on $2 million bail, branding claims he owned a private jet and helicopter as 'fantasy'.
But Judge Kevin McGrath was unmoved and ordered him held without bail until his next appearance on June 11.
Sources say the accused lived a lavish lifestyle, blowing cash on bottle service in Manhattan nightclubs and throwing all-night raves in the same townhouse where they allegedly tormented Carturan.
Both men now face a raft of serious charges as prosecutors continue to piece together one of the most shocking crypto-related crimes to hit New York.
One Bitcoin is worth £78,000, close to an all time high and up 1000% in the last five years.
In the US, President Trump has signed an executive order to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, helping to legitimise the controversial but lucrative asset. Fund managers including Fidelty and Blackrock now offer Bitcoin ETFs in the US while US banks will soon offer and hold Bitcoin to their clients.
But there have been warnings to investor's about the asset's volatility.
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