Police recently arrested two suspects linked to the kidnapping and prolonged torture of an Italian man in a high-end New York City townhouse, reportedly motivated by attempts to seize control of his crypto assets.
John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33, now face charges including kidnapping, assault, and unlawful imprisonment.
The 28-year-old victim earlier told police he arrived in New York from Italy on May 6 following threats to his family. He was held captive in a SoHo townhouse and was stripped of his passport and electronics.
Police said the victim suffered beatings, electric shocks, and gun violence. Prosecutors said Woeltz even dangled the victim over a stairwell, demanding his Bitcoin password. The alleged victim also told authorities that Woeltz and Duplessie used a saw to cut his leg.
“From what we know now, this was a dispute over crypto money,” NYPD Chief John Chell told reporters. “They all know each other, but this was a kidnapping lasting roughly 17 days, during which they tortured the victim. By torture, I mean forcing him to take narcotics, shocking his feet by placing them in water, and other forms of abuse over that entire period.”
The victim escaped on Friday morning, seeking help from a traffic officer. Police said he was hospitalized in stable condition.
The recent case follows a trend of criminals increasingly targeting cryptocurrency holders across Europe, carrying out kidnappings, torture, and ransom demands to force victims into surrendering access to their digital assets.
In France, police have arrested more than 20 people in connection with a series of kidnapping plots targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and their families.
Authorities said the arrests followed investigations into a recent abduction attempt in Nantes and the attempted kidnapping of the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, co-founder of the French crypto exchange Paymium in Paris earlier in May.
In January 2025, David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, and his wife were kidnapped from their home in central France. The kidnappers demanded a €10 million ransom in cryptocurrency, even going as far as severing one of Balland’s fingers to force his family’s compliance. French authorities successfully rescued the couple and arrested several suspects.
Earlier this month, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau held an emergency meeting with crypto industry leaders and vowed to prosecute those responsible for the attacks against them.
