Kidnappers arrested for 2 week torture of tourist in NY luxury mansion to get Bitcoin keys

An Italian tourist’s barefoot dash onto a SoHo sidewalk has cracked unfastened 1 of the astir convulsive crypto-ransom plots ever seen successful New York City.

With the surrender of William Duplessie, 32, connected Tuesday, constabulary accidental they person present charged 2 concern partners who allegedly imprisoned and tortured the 28-year-old for 17 days successful a luxury townhouse to unit entree to his multimillion-dollar Bitcoin wallet.

A townhouse turned torture chamber

Detectives picture an eight-bedroom location connected Prince Street rented for up to $40,000 a month. Inside, the unfortunate was allegedly hung implicit a extortion ledge, shocked with electrical wires, and menaced with a chainsaw. Officers aboriginal recovered Polaroid photos of the assaults on with firearms and narcotics.

Timeline of terror

• 6 May 2025 – Victim arrives from Italy, passport seized.
• 6–23 May 2025 – Seventeen-day captivity marked by escalating unit and threats to the victim’s family.
• 23 May 2025 – The Victim escapes portion the suspects hunt for his laptop.
• 24 May 2025 – First suspect, John Woeltz, 37, arrested and arraigned.
• 27 May 2025 – Duplessie walks into an NYPD precinct and is charged.

Who are Woeltz and Duplessie?

Woeltz, a self-styled “crypto king” from Kentucky, and Duplessie, his long-time concern partner, are believed to person courted high-net-worth investors done a drawstring of blockchain start-ups. Prosecutors reason some men are formation risks, citing offshore assets and Swiss concern ties. Bail has been denied.

Security analysts pass that the SoHo lawsuit exemplifies a pivot from integer theft to what manufacture insiders telephone “wrench attacks”, brute-force, real-world coercion for backstage keys. The FBI estimates $9.3 cardinal successful crypto-linked losses past twelvemonth successful the US, with a increasing stock tied to kidnappings and location invasions.

Only days earlier, French constabulary arrested much than 20 suspects successful abstracted plots targeting crypto entrepreneurs successful Nantes and Paris. Investigators accidental the schemes relied connected the aforesaid playbook: kidnap, terrorise, request wallet credentials.

What happens next?

The Manhattan District Attorney is expected to contiguous the lawsuit to a expansive jury. Meanwhile, civilian attorneys foretell a flurry of litigation against short-term rental platforms and a caller propulsion for security products that brace cyber policies with personal-security coverage.

For crypto investors, the acquisition is blunt. Hardware wallets and multi-signature protocols support against online hackers, but real-world privacy, from question plans to rental addresses, whitethorn present beryllium the quality betwixt integer luck and carnal danger.

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