A cryptocurrency investor was brought to justice before the Manhattan Criminal Tribunal on Saturday morning and charge With the Kidnaptation of an Italian, then beat and torture him for several weeks, allegedly to extract cryptocurrency passwords.
The 37 -year -old cryptographic investor John Woeltz was arrested on Friday after having pretended the man in a chic house in the high -end district of Manhattan in Soho. Friday, the victim would have escaped the five -story home and asked for the police help, who then arrested Woeltz.
According to the New York TimesPolice found photos of Polaroid inside the house that documented the torture for several weeks.
Woeltz and two accomplices would have been held and tortured the 28 -year -old man at home that Woeltz had rented for about $ 30,000 per month. The alleged victim told the police that he had arrived in the United States on May 6, when he was kidnapped by Woeltz.
The Times reports that Woeltz and another man stole the victim’s devices and passport and asked that he is abandoning his Bitcoin password so that they can steal his cryptocurrency. When the victim refused, the torture of several weeks started.
The victim told the police that Woeltz and the other man beat him, shocked him, struck him with a weapon and pointed him on his head, and swung him from the top of the five -story house, threatening to kill him. They also cut their leg with a saw, he said, threatened to kill his family and forced him to smoke cocaine crack, the New York Daily News reported.
The reports indicate that Woeltz refused to speak with the police and immediately retained a legal representation. He was arrested on Saturday Four crime countsIncluding the removal with the intention of perceiving a ransom and pleaded not guilty. Judge Eric Schumacher ordered that he was placed in pre -trial detention.
A 24 -year -old was also arrested on Friday, even if she was Faced with a journalist While walking freely on a street in New York on Saturday, and the Guardian was unable to find charges related to it on the locator of the online criminal case of the Manhattan court.
Many details of the episode are not clear on Saturday, including how Woeltz and the man knew each other. Wednesday, Woeltz should be back in court.
