Latest news with #JohnWoeltz
Malay Mail
3 hours ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
‘Crypto king of Kentucky' among suspects charged with kidnapping, torture of Italian trader in New York bitcoin theft plot
NEW YORK, May 31 — The latest crime thriller gripping New York is the alleged kidnapping of a wealthy Italian man whose captors attempted to torture the crypto millionaire into giving up his bitcoin password. It began amid the backdrop of wild parties, immortalised in pop culture through films like The Wolf of Wall Street, in a posh Manhattan nightclub where the nouveau riche and flashy Wall Street bros congregate. It ended on the morning of May 23, when a man ran to a police officer near Mulberry and Prince streets in the Soho district of Manhattan. The barefoot man claimed he had just escaped a luxurious apartment where he was held captive for 17 days after entering the United States. Police arrived at the scene and arrested John Woeltz, 37, dubbed 'the crypto king of Kentucky' by tabloids, who is facing charges of kidnapping, criminal possession of weapons, assault and unlawful imprisonment. Woeltz's 24-year-old assistant was also detained but does not face the same charges. A second man, William Duplessie, 33, who is the founder of the startup Pangea Blockchain International, turned himself in on Tuesday and was charged similarly to Woeltz. Duplessie, who originally hails from Miami, appeared in court yesterday wearing a jail uniform. William Duplessie, who faces charges in connection with the alleged torture of Italian crypto millionaire Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, attends his hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 30, 2025. — Curtis Means/Pool/AFP pic Philosophy degree According to details reported by local media, the presumed victim is Italian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, who visited John Woeltz's rented home — which goes for US$30,000 (RM144,918) a month — upon arriving from Italy on May 6. Once there, Woeltz and Duplessie confiscated his electronic devices and passport, and demanded the access code to his bitcoin assets, police said. After his refusal, the two men allegedly tortured Carturan, striking him with a rifle, pointing the weapon in his face and taking him to the building's fifth floor, where they threatened to throw him out the window, local media reported. 'He's a 37-year-old man with no prior criminal record. He's a college graduate with a degree in philosophy. He has been very successful in the technology world,' Woeltz's lawyer Wayne Ervin Gosnell said during a court hearing Thursday. The defence requested Woeltz's conditional release in the state of New York in exchange for a US$2 million bond. Gosnell also noted that it has been said Woeltz 'owns a private jet, he owns a helicopter. That is not true.' A view shows the Manhattan town house where William Duplessie and John Woeltz allegedly tortured an Italian man for weeks in an attempt to gain access to his cryptocurrency wallet, in New York City May 29, 2025. — Reuters pic Lavish lifestyle Though Woeltz has neither a jet nor a helicopter, he leads an exceedingly lavish lifestyle, according to the New York Post and TMZ, which published racy images of the suspects partying at The Box, a New York nightclub. The Post also mentioned frequent parties at the Soho apartment that is the scene of the alleged kidnapping. In recent months, cases of kidnappings or attempted abductions in the cryptocurrency world have multiplied globally as bitcoin, the most capitalised cryptocurrency, has grown to historical peaks. For Adam Healy, CEO of Station70, a firm specialising in crypto protection, these crimes are not new — he worked on a case years ago when an American traveling to Egypt was kidnapped for his crypto assets. 'I think that the frequency and the ruthlessness is increasing,' Healy said. In the last six to eight months, he has seen 'a significant uptick in those that are known to hold crypto or executives at crypto firms, things along those lines, getting targeted by a wide range of different criminals.' Healy attributed part of the uptick in crime to the rising price of bitcoin. 'It's a bigger target,' he said, and they are boosted by the ease with which massive payloads can be transferred with no oversight — as long as the crypto user can log in. 'Historically, if you wanted to kidnap something that was high net worth and they had, I don't know, ten million dollars in their JP Morgan account, it was kind of hard to get to,' Healy said. 'You couldn't just go to the bank and get a million dollars out.' — AFP
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto duo faces kidnapping charges in alleged bitcoin theft attempt
The latest crime thriller gripping New York is the alleged kidnapping of a wealthy Italian man whose captors attempted to torture the crypto millionaire into giving up his bitcoin password. It began amid the backdrop of wild parties, immortalized in pop culture through films like "The Wolf of Wall Street," in a posh Manhattan nightclub where the nouveau riche and flashy Wall Street bros congregate. It ended on the morning of May 23, when a man ran to a police officer near Mulberry and Prince streets in the Soho district of Manhattan. The barefoot man claimed he had just escaped a luxurious apartment where he was held captive for 17 days after entering the United States. Police arrived at the scene and arrested John Woeltz, 37, dubbed "the crypto king of Kentucky" by tabloids, who is facing charges of kidnapping, criminal possession of weapons, assault and unlawful imprisonment. Woeltz's 24-year-old assistant was also detained but does not face the same charges. A second man, William Duplessie, 33, who is the founder of the startup Pangea Blockchain International, turned himself in on Tuesday and was charged similarly to Woeltz. Duplessie, who originally hails from Miami, appeared in court Friday wearing a jail uniform. - Philosophy degree - According to details reported by local media, the presumed victim is Italian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, who visited John Woeltz's rented home -- which goes for $30,000 a month -- upon arriving from Italy on May 6. Once there, Woeltz and Duplessie confiscated his electronic devices and passport, and demanded the access code to his bitcoin assets, police said. After his refusal, the two men allegedly tortured Carturan, striking him with a rifle, pointing the weapon in his face and taking him to the building's fifth floor, where they threatened to throw him out the window, local media reported. "He's a 37-year-old man with no prior criminal record. He's a college graduate with a degree in philosophy. He has been very successful in the technology world," Woeltz's lawyer Wayne Ervin Gosnell said during a court hearing Thursday. The defense requested Woeltz's conditional release in the state of New York in exchange for a $2 million bond. Gosnell also noted that it has been said Woeltz "owns a private jet, he owns a helicopter. That is not true." - Lavish lifestyle - Though Woeltz has neither a jet nor a helicopter, he leads an exceedingly lavish lifestyle, according to the New York Post and TMZ, which published racy images of the suspects partying at The Box, a New York nightclub. The Post also mentioned frequent parties at the Soho apartment that is the scene of the alleged kidnapping. In recent months, cases of kidnappings or attempted abductions in the cryptocurrency world have multiplied globally as bitcoin, the most capitalized cryptocurrency, has grown to historical peaks. For Adam Healy, CEO of Station70, a firm specializing in crypto protection, these crimes are not new -- he worked on a case years ago when an American traveling to Egypt was kidnapped for his crypto assets. "I think that the frequency and the ruthlessness is increasing," Healy said. In the last six to eight months, he has seen "a significant uptick in those that are known to hold crypto or executives at crypto firms, things along those lines, getting targeted by a wide range of different criminals." Healy attributed part of the uptick in crime to the rising price of bitcoin. "It's a bigger target," he said, and they are boosted by the ease with which massive payloads can be transferred with no oversight -- as long as the crypto user can log in. "Historically, if you wanted to kidnap something that was high net worth and they had, I don't know, ten million dollars in their JP Morgan account, it was kind of hard to get to," Healy said. "You couldn't just go to the bank and get a million dollars out." gl/bdx/sla/jgc
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
What to know about the SoHo crypto kidnapping case and the suspects John Woeltz, William Duplessie
On May 23, a shoeless and distressed man rushed up to a NYPD traffic cop in lower Manhattan with a sickening allegation. The 28-year-old man was an Italian crypto millionaire named Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan. He claimed that he had just escaped from a posh Prince Street townhouse where he was allegedly held prisoner, brutalized, and tortured for his cryptocurrency password. Two suspects, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, have been arrested in the disturbing case.
Fox News
10 hours ago
- Business
- Fox News
NYPD officers entangled in crypto torture case after Bitcoin investor escaped from townhouse of horrors
Two New York Police Department officers could find themselves in hot water over potential connections to a shocking case of torture in the stately SoHo district of Manhattan. The NYPD confirmed to Fox News Digital that its officers "were modified" and "the matter is under internal review." The issue involves two detectives, one of whom reportedly served on Mayor Eric Adams' security detail, the New York Post reported. The case at the heart of the scandal is tied to two men who allegedly tortured an Italian cryptocurrency millionaire in a New York City townhouse. One detective is suspected of driving the alleged victim, a 22-year-old Italian Bitcoin millionaire, from the airport to the townhouse where the savagery occurred on the day he arrived in New York, according to the Post. The other is accused of working with the man's alleged captors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, in an "unauthorized capacity." Woeltz, 37, and Duplessie, 33, are accused of kidnapping the man, a former business partner, on May 6 and torturing him when he refused to reveal his Bitcoin password. A criminal complaint obtained by Fox News says the brutality lasted for nearly three weeks. The pair allegedly shocked the man with electric wires, bashed his head with a firearm, pointed a firearm at his head and threatened to kill him and his family, and hung him over a second-floor ledge. Eventually, the man escaped the residence and flagged down a traffic cop. Both suspects have now been charged with assault, kidnapping in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment in the first degree and criminal possession of a firearm. Woeltz was arrested last Friday, just after the man escaped. Duplessie turned himself in on Tuesday. The latter reportedly appeared in front of a judge in a Manhattan courtroom Friday, waiting to be officially indicted. He is being held without bail.
Associated Press
11 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
2nd suspect in Manhattan crypto kidnapping and torture case indicted
NEW YORK (AP) — A second man charged in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man for his Bitcoin has been indicted. A Manhattan grand jury handed up the indictment Friday against William Duplessie, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11. Duplessie, 32, faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment. Prosecutors say Duplessie and fellow crypto investor John Woeltz, 37, lured the victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family. The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high. He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The grand jury decision followed Duplessie's brief appearance Friday morning in Manhattan court. A judge reminded him a protective order was still in effect, though he didn't name who it was concerning. Duplessie, who is listed as a founder or investor at various blockchain-based companies, was escorted in handcuffs and wore a prison jumpsuit. He didn't address the court. Both Duplessie and Woeltz remain in custody. New York City police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the upscale Manhattan townhouse where the man says he was kidnapped and tortured. The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry. A lawyer for the labor union representing NYPD detectives said there's 'absolutely no indication' either officer witnessed any of the alleged illegal activity.
