A US cryptocurrency investor, John Woeltz, 37, has been charged with multiple crimes, including kidnapping, assault, and illegal possession of a firearm, after allegedly subjecting a 28-year-old Italian man to weeks of torture in a Manhattan townhouse in an attempt to obtain his bitcoin wallet credentials. The victim had traveled to New York and was lured to the five-story rental property, where Woeltz and an accomplice allegedly began physically and emotionally abusing him. The townhouse, which was rented for at least $30,000 a month, became the scene of a prolonged ordeal during which the victim was beaten, shocked with electric wires, and threatened with a gun. At one point, the victim was hung over a staircase railing and warned that he would be killed if he did not provide the required information, and was also threatened that his family would be harmed.
The victim managed to escape on Friday morning and alerted a traffic officer, leading to the arrest of Woeltz and the discovery of evidence, including Polaroid photos of the abuse, as well as weapons and other equipment used for torture. A second suspect, Beatrice Folchi, was also arrested, while a third suspect remains at large. This incident is part of a concerning trend of physical attacks within the cryptocurrency industry, with dozens of such incidents reported this year alone.
Recent cases include the attempted kidnapping of the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, CEO of crypto platform Paymium, and the abduction of a crypto millionaire's father, who had a finger severed before being rescued. Another incident involved the kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of hardware wallet maker Ledger, and his wife, who were later rescued by authorities and had a paid ransom seized.