Duo face charges in NY over alleged crypto kidnapping

Two crypto investors face kidnapping charges for allegedly holding a wealthy trader captive in a Manhattan townhouse for three weeks for his bitcoin.

A neon sign in the US alerts customers that the business accepts bitcoin as payment. AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus

Two crypto investors face kidnapping charges for allegedly holding a wealthy trader captive in a Manhattan townhouse for three weeks for his bitcoin, law enforcement officials said.

The case is one of a raft of violent alleged abductions this year linked to cryptocurrency.

John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned in a Manhattan court on Sunday (AEST) on five counts, including kidnapping, assault and unlawful imprisonment, for allegedly tying up and torturing the victim in hopes of obtaining the password to the man’s crypto account, according to a criminal complaint.

William Duplessie, an alleged accomplice of Woeltz, surrendered to police on Wednesday, according to the New York Police Department. Duplessie was expected to be charged with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.

A judge ordered Woeltz be detained, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Woeltz, from Kentucky, previously worked on a privacy-preserving cryptocurrency project, records show. Duplessie is the former chief executive of a Swiss crypto investment firm, records show.

Last year, a Connecticut couple driving a Lamborghini was kidnapped by six men who wanted to hold them for ransom because they thought their son held a vast amount of cryptocurrency, according to federal prosecutors.

At least five crypto-related abductions have taken place in France in recent months.

The bizarre Manhattan abduction began on May 6, when the victim, an associate of the two men, arrived at a townhouse in the Nolita neighbourhood.

Woeltz took the victim’s electronic devices and passport, then demanded the password to his crypto account, prosecutors said.

When the victim refused, he was beaten, shocked with electric wires and hit on the head with a firearm, they said. Woeltz threatened to kill the victim and his family, according to the complaint.

The victim managed to escape from the home and flag down a uniformed traffic agent for help.

The Wall Street Journal