Bitcoin Bounty Gone Wrong: New York Suspect Jailed Without Bail in Alleged Crypto Kidnapping Scheme
Another day, another crypto crime—this time with a side of old-school violence. A New York man sits behind bars after prosecutors say he mixed Bitcoin ransom demands with alleged torture tactics. Judge wasn’t buying the ’just a digital misunderstanding’ defense.
No bail, no Bitcoin—just a cold cell for the accused. Meanwhile, Wall Street still can’t decide if crypto is the future of finance or just a high-tech hideout for bad actors. Place your bets.
House of horrors
The victim, identified as a 28-year-old Italian national, was reportedly held captive for 17 days.
Woeltz and Duplessie allegedly tortured the victim with electrical wires, forced the victim to smoke cocaine from a crack pipe, and at one instance, dangled the victim from a five-story high staircase.
The kidnapping took a turn on the morning of May 23. After allegedly being pistol-whipped by Woeltz, the victim thought they’d get shot and pretended to agree to surrender their password, according to a Washington Post report.
While the captors went to retrieve a laptop from another room, the victim was able to rush downstairs and flee to the nearby streets.
Disheveled, bloodied, and barefoot, the victim immediately sought help from a traffic enforcement officer on the corner of Mulberry Street.
Police later searching the townhouse found a saw, cocaine, chicken wire, body armor, night-vision goggles, ballistic helmets, and ammunition.
Also discovered were Polaroid photos of the victim with a gun to their head and shirts showing the victim with a cocaine pipe, according to a description from Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson, per an ABC News report.
The Manhattan incident is one of several “wrench attacks” that have been growing in an alarming trend. Decrypt has compiled several methods to protect and defend against these violent attacks.
Decrypt has reached out for comments from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as well as Duplessie and Woeltz’s respective attorneys.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
