Crypto Investor Accused of Kidnapping Partner for Bitcoin Password
Okay, so get this crazy story. A guy, a crypto investor who's 37, has been indicted by a grand jury. They're saying he kidnapped his business partner right there in fancy Soho for like, three whole weeks. Can you even imagine?
Apparently, he wasn't playing nice either. Prosecutors said on Wednesday that he shocked the poor guy with electric wires. And get this, he even dangled him over a staircase! All this just to get his Bitcoin password. Wild, right?
So, the guy, John Woeltz, got arrested back on May 23rd, according to the court stuff. There's a complaint filed in Manhattan criminal court where an unnamed guy told the cops in New York City that Woeltz and another dude, William Duplessie, took his electronics and passport on May 6th. They were demanding his password so they could swipe his cryptocurrency. Seriously messed up.
Woeltz and Duplessie, who is 33, haven't said if they're guilty yet. Their lawyers didn't want to say anything when asked, which is pretty typical, I guess.
Local news has been calling Woeltz a crypto investor. They said the alleged victim was an Italian guy. Get this, both of them apparently had connections to a crypto hedge fund in New York. That's what the New York Times reported, saying they got that info from an internal police report a law enforcement official told them about.
When the guy wouldn't give up his password, Woeltz and Duplessie supposedly started beating him up really bad. This went on for weeks until the guy somehow managed to get away. The complaints against these two guys say they tied his wrists, hit him in the head with a gun, and even threatened to kill his family. Just awful stuff.
Duplessie got arrested on Tuesday, and he's supposed to be in court for a first hearing on Friday. The judges have said both of them need to stay locked up. Woeltz is scheduled to be arraigned on June 11th. What a mess, right? You gotta be careful who you do business with, especially when it comes to crypto, tbh.
