Second crypto bigwig arrested in tourist bitcoin kidnapping and torture case in New York City

News.com.au

7 days ago

A crypto trader sought in the horrific torture of an Italian tourist in a posh New York City townhouse has surrendered to police — after living it up in the Hamptons over the holiday weekend, law-enforcement sources told New York Post.
William Duplessie, 33, of Miami, Florida, showed up at the 13th Precinct in Manhattan around 7.45am on Tuesday (local time), and looked grim as he was hauled off to court in cuffs several hours later. He refused to answer reporters' questions.
The suspect - dressed in a long-sleeve white polo shirt, black slacks and loafers with no socks - was charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, police said.
He was sought in the gruesome case after the victim, Italian crypto millionaire Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, broke free from his captors on Friday and tipped off the police.
Police had already moved in and busted Kentucky crypto king John Woeltz, who was charged with torturing Mr Carturan for days to try to pry his bitcoin password from him.
Police also arrested Mr Woeltz's assistant, Beatrice Folchi, but the 24-year-old was quickly cut loose by the Manhattan DA's Office, which said it was declining to prosecute her pending further investigation.
Mr Woeltz and Mr Carturan were tied to a crypto hedge fund based in the Big Apple but had a falling out - prompting the victim to initially return to Italy, according to an internal police report, sources told The Post.
But Mr Woeltz then allegedly convinced Mr Carturan to return to New York and, on May 6, imprisoned him in the SoHo townhouse.
Mr Carturan, from Turin, Italy, had told his family that he was travelling to the US 'for a trip of tourism and language learning,' the Italian news outlet la Repubblica reported.
It is not exactly clear how Mr Duplessie is tied to case, but he was the last remaining alleged culprit being sought, sources said.
According to property records, Mr Duplessie has shacked up at ritzy residences over the years, including a Malibu, California, mansion valued at more than $US3.8 million ($A5.9m) and a Miami property with a pool with a market value of nearly $US900,000 ($A1.4m).
He is not listed as the owner of either property.
According to his bio on kando.tech, he founded the Lugano, Switzerland-based Pangea Digital Asset Group and Pangea Blockchain Fund in 2019 with his father, James, and brother, Stephen.
In a 2017 interview with bitcoin blogger Tai Lopez, Duplessie bragged that he began trading in the stock market at age 11 before focusing on the cryptocurrency market.
Sources said Duplessie and Woeltz were 'business partners' in a current venture.
Woeltz, a crypto dealer with a private jet and chopper and worth in excess of $100 million, allegedly masterminded the sick scheme, which included pistol-whipping Carturan, cutting him with a chainsaw and urinating on him while they held him captive, sources said.
Carturan was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment after his rescue.
Woeltz was arraigned on kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, and weapons possession charges on Saturday and is now being held without bail at Rikers Island.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Duplessie will be charged.
'We know he is going to be charged [along] with Mr. Woeltz, with kidnapping and false imprisonment of an associate in SoHo,' Tisch said on 'Good Day New York' Tuesday morning.