Posted on 05/24/2025 5:54:03 PM PDT by mbrfl
The 37-year-old Crypto trader accused of kidnapping a 28-year-old Italian man inside a luxurious SoHo apartment repeatedly shocked his victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill the victim’s family — all to get the password to the man’s Bitcoin account, prosecutors said Saturday.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Eric Schumacher ordered John Woeltz held without bail on assault and kidnapping charges as police continued to search for his accomplice. He also issued a restraining order against Woeltz, so if he does get out of jail, he can’t go anywhere near his victim.
A second alleged accomplice, a 24-year-old woman, was arrested late Friday but prosecutors declined to bring charges. Detectives on Saturday were still going through the Soho home, bringing out large paper evidence bags.
Prosecutors said the victim arrived in the U.S. on May 6 and visited Woeltz. The two men share interests in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, cops said.
The extortion plot was uncovered after Woeltz’s victim managed to escape his swanky Prince and Mulberry Sts. home in SoHo Friday morning and wave down an NYPD traffic enforcement agent, who called police.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
EXACTLY why I don’t own Bitcoin - very violent lifestyle.
Yeah you own Bitcoin password, no shiny metal, nothing backs your crypto, not government, not insurance outfits, not banks. It’s a different form of Ponzi. Coinbase is classic Ponzi.
Another of the 8 million stories in the Naked City.
Skinny little white boy won’t do well in prison.
...The arrested crypto trader is worth $100 million, according to the NT Post, citing law enforcement sources. It cited authorities saying that he owns private jet and a helicopter; and added that public records show Woeltz has 150-acres of land in Kentucky worth more than $860,000...
I wonder how much of that he stole or extorted from others.
Check
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