Latest news with #WilliamDuplessie
CNN
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Detective assigned to NYC Mayor Eric Adams' security detail allegedly dropped off victim in crypto kidnapping case, sources say
A New York City Police detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams' security detail will be questioned in relation to a bizarre crypto currency kidnapping and torture plot after he allegedly delivered the victim to his tormentors, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case. It is not clear if the detective had any knowledge or any role in the multiple assaults, officials said, adding that is a key question that investigators are trying to answer. The investigation comes after two people, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, were charged in the case. Prosecutors said they were involved in holding a 28-year-old wealthy Italian cryptocurrency trader hostage for several weeks as part of a violent scheme to obtain his Bitcoin password, the Manhattan District Attorney said. The victim, who has not been named by investigators, was ultimately able to escape. Both men have pleaded not guilty. Duplessie's attorney declined to comment on the case. CNN has reached out to Woeltz's attorney for comment. Investigators learned that the detective, who picked up the victim on May 6 from John F. Kennedy International Airport, was working 'off-duty employment' providing security for Woeltz, a Crypto entrepreneur, sources said. The detective was contacted by NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau and has been placed on 'modified assignment,' meaning his badge and guns have been taken and he is assigned to administrative duties as the investigation into the plot continues. A second detective, assigned to the Narcotics Division, was also placed on modified assignment as part of the same investigation, according to the officials. Investigators also do not know whether that detective had any awareness of the plot or involvement in it. The union representing the detectives declined to comment. Two members of the NYPD were placed on modified duty Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson told the Associated Press. CNN has reached out to the mayor's office and the NYPD for more information. Adams' office confirmed one of the detectives provides security detail for the mayor, but said the mayor has no knowledge of what the officer does on his personal time, the Associated Press reported. 'Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,' the mayor's office told the Associated Press. 'We are disturbed by these allegations.' Prosecutors say the victim in the kidnapping plot was tortured for days, threatened to be killed and at one point dangled over a railing if he did not give up his Bitcoin password. When the victim refused, he was subjected to beatings that included but were 'not limited to,' using electric wires to shock him, pointing a firearm at his head and using that firearm to strike him in the head, they said. The two men also bound the victim's wrists and said they would have his family killed, according to the district attorney. Both detectives being questioned in relation to the case were apparently hired through a private security and investigation company run by a retired NYPD sergeant, sources told CNN. The NYPD had no record of either detective applying for, or being approved for, off duty employment, the process by which an NYPD employee can pick up other work outside the department, law enforcement sources told CNN. Officials briefed on the investigation are considering several questions, including if the detectives have any knowledge or any role in the multiple assaults.
CNN
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Detective assigned to NYC Mayor Eric Adams' security detail allegedly dropped off victim in crypto kidnapping case, sources say
Crime Eric Adams CryptoFacebookTweetLink Follow A New York City Police detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams' security detail will be questioned in relation to a bizarre crypto currency kidnapping and torture plot after he allegedly delivered the victim to his tormentors, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case. It is not clear if the detective had any knowledge or any role in the multiple assaults, officials said, adding that is a key question that investigators are trying to answer. The investigation comes after two people, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, were charged in the case. Prosecutors said they were involved in holding a 28-year-old wealthy Italian cryptocurrency trader hostage for several weeks as part of a violent scheme to obtain his Bitcoin password, the Manhattan District Attorney said. The victim, who has not been named by investigators, was ultimately able to escape. Both men have pleaded not guilty. Duplessie's attorney declined to comment on the case. CNN has reached out to Woeltz's attorney for comment. Investigators learned that the detective, who picked up the victim on May 6 from John F. Kennedy International Airport, was working 'off-duty employment' providing security for Woeltz, a Crypto entrepreneur, sources said. The detective was contacted by NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau and has been placed on 'modified assignment,' meaning his badge and guns have been taken and he is assigned to administrative duties as the investigation into the plot continues. A second detective, assigned to the Narcotics Division, was also placed on modified assignment as part of the same investigation, according to the officials. Investigators also do not know whether that detective had any awareness of the plot or involvement in it. The union representing the detectives declined to comment. Two members of the NYPD were placed on modified duty Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson told the Associated Press. CNN has reached out to the mayor's office and the NYPD for more information. Adams' office confirmed one of the detectives provides security detail for the mayor, but said the mayor has no knowledge of what the officer does on his personal time, the Associated Press reported. 'Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,' the mayor's office told the Associated Press. 'We are disturbed by these allegations.' Prosecutors say the victim in the kidnapping plot was tortured for days, threatened to be killed and at one point dangled over a railing if he did not give up his Bitcoin password. When the victim refused, he was subjected to beatings that included but were 'not limited to,' using electric wires to shock him, pointing a firearm at his head and using that firearm to strike him in the head, they said. The two men also bound the victim's wrists and said they would have his family killed, according to the district attorney. Both detectives being questioned in relation to the case were apparently hired through a private security and investigation company run by a retired NYPD sergeant, sources told CNN. The NYPD had no record of either detective applying for, or being approved for, off duty employment, the process by which an NYPD employee can pick up other work outside the department, law enforcement sources told CNN. Officials briefed on the investigation are considering several questions, including if the detectives have any knowledge or any role in the multiple assaults.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
2 NYPD officers on leave over ties with accused kidnappers of Italian tourist: sources
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Two NYPD officers have been placed on administrative leave due to their alleged connections to the men accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist in a cryptocurrency scheme, sources said. Sources told PIX11 News on Thursday that the two officers were moonlighting as security for one or both of the suspects. More Local News William Duplessie, 33, and John Woeltz, 37, allegedly kidnapped and tortured a 28-year-old cryptocurrency millionaire who escaped from an apartment near Prince and Mulberry streets in SoHo. Officials say the suspects wanted the password to the tourist's Bitcoin account. Duplessie and Woeltz allegedly bound and beat the victim several times, including hitting him in the head with a gun and using electric wires to shock him for three weeks in the apartment. They also used a saw to cut the man's leg, urinated on him, and forced him to smoke crack cocaine by holding him down or forcing a pipe into his mouth, according to court documents. The tourist told the defendants he would give them access to the account and ran out of the apartment when Woeltz went to get the victim's laptop, officials said. One officer allegedly acted as the victim's driver when he landed from an area airport. He then took the victim to the SoHo apartment, where he was tortured for weeks, sources said. Another officer was also on the payroll and was being paid for services, according to sources. One officer is said to be assigned to the NYPD's Elite Executive Protection Unit, which protects the mayor. Their names have not been released. The situation is under review by internal affairs, sources said. This story comprises reporting from PIX11 News reporter Mira Wassef. Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
11 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Accused SoHo crypto kidnappers had 2 NYPD detectives working as security, police sources say
Two New York City police detectives had been working security for the cryptocurrency investors who police say kidnapped a man and held him captive in SoHo, police sources tell CBS News New York. Those two detectives have now been placed on desk duty as the police department investigates. Read more: NYC crypto kidnapping case proceedings put on hold over legal deadline Detectives weren't authorized to work as security, NYPD says It's not unusual for police to work security in their off hours -- it's called moonlighting. But NYPD personnel must get authorization from the department to do so, and police say the two detectives in question did not. They have since been stripped of their guns and badges as the Internal Affairs Bureau investigates. One of the detectives was assigned within the NYPD to Mayor Eric Adams' security detail. Police have not said when or where either of them worked for the investors and there is nothing to suggest they were in on the kidnapping scheme. Two sources say one of the detectives picked up the victim, an Italian tourist, from the airport on May 6 and brought him to the home in SoHo. Right now, there is no indication that either detective knew of or were involved in the alleged criminality that happened inside. Italian tourist allegedly kidnapped, tortured for 17 days Prosecutors say John Woeltz and William Duplessie held the man captive for 17 days inside the home as they tried to get the password to his Bitcoin wallet. Investigators say the victim was shocked with electric wires, cut on the leg with a saw, and forced to smoke crack cocaine. An attorney for Woeltz declined to answer questions from reporters after a judge denied his client bail on Thursday morning. The NYPD is still looking into what, if anything, these detectives knew or witnessed about the alleged crimes. The mayor's office sent CBS News New York a statement on Thursday, saying, "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 it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing."
CNA
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Man charged in New York with 3-week kidnapping to try to steal Bitcoin
NEW YORK :A grand jury has indicted a 37-year-old cryptocurrency investor accused of kidnapping a business partner in Manhattan's upscale Soho neighborhood for three weeks, shocking him with electric wires, and dangling him over a staircase to try to get him to give up his Bitcoin password, prosecutors said on Wednesday. John Woeltz was arrested on May 23, court records show. According to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan criminal court, an unnamed man told New York City police that Woeltz and another man, William Duplessie, on May 6 took his electronic devices and passport demanded he give up his password so they could steal his cryptocurrency. Woeltz and Duplessie, 33, have not yet entered pleas. Their lawyers declined to comment. Local media have called Woeltz a cryptocurrency investor and described the alleged victim as an Italian man. Both had ties to a crypto hedge fund in New York, the New York Times reported, citing an internal police report described by a law enforcement official. When the man refused to share his password, Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly began a series of brutal beatings until the man managed to escape weeks later. They tied his wrists, hit him on the head with a gun, and threatened to kill his family, according to the complaints against the two men. Duplessie was arrested on Tuesday and is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Friday. Judges have ordered both men detained. Woeltz is due to be arraigned on June 11.
