Wild Crypto Kidnapping & Torture Alleged in NYC
Okay, so get this crazy story outta New York. It sounds like something from a movie, tbh. A guy, a crypto investor kinda dude, is being accused of some really messed up stuff. The story goes that he allegedly kidnapped a business partner right there in fancy Soho in Manhattan.
This wasn't just a quick thing either. Supposedly, they held him for three weeks! And get this, they reportedly shocked him with electric wires and even, like, dangled him over a staircase. Why? To try and force him to hand over his Bitcoin password. Can you even imagine?
Prosecutors shared all this wild info on Wednesday. The guy accused is 37 and his name is John Woeltz. Court records show he got arrested back on May 23. A criminal complaint filed in court says that this other guy, who isn't named publicly, told the cops that Woeltz and another dude, William Duplessie, apparently took his electronics and passport on May 6 and were demanding his password so they could rip off his cryptocurrency. Yikes.
Neither Woeltz nor Duplessie, who's 33, have entered their pleas yet. Their lawyers didn't want to say anything about it. Local news has been calling Woeltz a crypto investor, and they've said the person who was allegedly kidnapped is Italian. The New York Times even reported that both guys were connected to a crypto hedge fund in the city, based on a police report a law enforcement official talked about.
So, when the guy apparently wouldn't give up his password, Woeltz and Duplessie reportedly started doing all sorts of really horrible things to him. This went on for weeks until the guy finally managed to get away. The complaints against them say they tied his wrists, hit him on the head with a gun, and even threatened his family. Duplessie was arrested on Tuesday and is supposed to be in court for a preliminary hearing on Friday. Both guys have been ordered to stay locked up by the judges. Woeltz is scheduled to be arraigned on June 11.
It really makes you wonder, doesn't it, what makes people do stuff like this? Especially over something like crypto? It's kinda wild how far some people might go for money, huh?
