We’re getting a greater check out the alleged plot undertaken by two NYC suspects accused of kidnapping an Italian man and torturing him to accumulate a password to his Bitcoin fortune … prosecutors revealed in courtroom docket this week the sufferer was allegedly lured to Manhattan in an attempt to reclaim a couple of of his international cash that had already been stolen.
John Woeltz and William Duplessie, two hard-partying “crypto bros” residing in an 8-bedroom SoHo townhouse, are in custody after a barefoot and bloody Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan approached a cop on the street closing week and acknowledged he’d merely escaped from being imprisoned and tortured on the residence.
TMZ.com
Prosecutors allege Woeltz and Duplessie had beforehand compelled Carturan, a multimillionaire, to ship them Bitcoin after they threatened to kill his family. Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly suggested Carturan he could get his Bitcoin once more if he personally confirmed up in New York, which he did in early May.
In courtroom docket, prosecutors acknowledged an unnamed off-duty NYPD detective — employed by Woeltz and Duplessie — picked up Carturan from an airport and took him to the Prince Avenue townhouse on May 6.
Woeltz, 33, and 37-year-old Duplessie allegedly took 28-year-old Carturan’s passport and devices, then sure him by his wrists and proceeded to torture him over the course of 17 days — he was allegedly pistol-whipped, shocked with electrical wires, and threatened with being shot. His family was moreover allegedly further threatened. The suspects wanted Carturan to give up the password to his Bitcoin pockets, prosecutors say.
Carturan suggested authorities the two suspects decrease his leg with a observed, urinated on him, and compelled him to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe held to his mouth. He acknowledged an AirTag was tied spherical his neck with chain or wire.
Woeltz — known as the “Crypto King of Kentucky” — allegedly hung Carturan over a ledge from the best flight of stairs inside the townhouse. Carturan lastly acknowledged he would give them the password from his laptop computer pc laptop … and as Woeltz went to retrieve the laptop computer pc, Carturan ran down the steps and out the doorway door, and flagged down a guests cop, who known as 911. His barefoot interaction was caught on digital digicam.
#BREAKING: 2nd suspect surrenders in NYC ‘crypto king’ townhouse torture case, @MarcSantia4NY research
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) Might 27, 2025@NBCNewYork
Woeltz was arrested on Friday, May 23, on the townhouse. Duplessie was arrested Tuesday when he turned himself in at a police station.
Prosecutors say a search warrant on the townhouse recovered a observed, crack cocaine, hen wire, T-shirts that features images of Carturan with the pipe in his mouth, Polaroid images of Carturan with a gun pointed at his head, and totally different devices, along with firearm ammunition and physique armor. Blood was moreover current in parts of the residence, matching areas the place Carturan described he’d been tortured.
Carturan was dealt with for his accidents at Bellevue Hospital.
A provide with direct knowledge tells TMZ … the NYPD detective who allegedly picked up Carturan on the airport serves as a member of New York Mayor Eric Adams‘ security factor … and is now beneath investigation in relation to this case.
John Woeltz and William Duplessie are every going by bills of kidnapping and torture in a sealed indictment. Neither suspect has entered a plea.
