An American cryptocurrency investor faces criminal charges after having allegedly kidnapped and tortured a man in Manhattan for weeks to try to steal his bitcoin
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John Woeltz, 37, was arrested on Saturday for several accusations, notably kidnapping, assault and illegal possession of firearms, after having held a 28 -year -old Italian captive in a luxury town house, according to the authorities.
The Italian went to New York earlier this month and was attracted to a five-story rental in the Nolita district, where prosecutors say that Woeltz and an unidentified accomplice began to abuse him to obtain his cryptographic portfolio references.
The townhouse, rented for at least $ 30,000 per month, has become the site of a several week’s event. Prosecutors say that the victim was beaten, shocked by electric wires and threatened under the threat of a weapon.
At one point, he was suspended by a staircase balustrade and said he would be killed if he had not yielded. He was also warned that his family would be injured, reports the New York Times.
The victim escaped on Friday morning, reporting a traffic agent after fled the house. Police arrested Woeltz on the scene and discovered photos of Polaroid showing abuse, as well as weapons and other torture equipment.
A second person, Beatrice Folchi, was also arrested, while a third suspect remains in freedom.
This attack is part of a disturbing scheme: the cryptocurrency industry has seen dozens of physical assaults this year only. In a recent case, Pierre Noizat’s daughter and grandson, CEO of the Crypto Paymium platform, were targeted in an attempted removal captured on video and published online.
This attempt failed, but earlier in the same city, the father of a crypto millionaire was removed and cut a finger before being rescued.
In another incident, David Balland, co-founder of Hardware Wallet Maker Ledger, and his wife were kidnapped from their home. They were then rescued by the authorities and a paid ransom was seized.
