Crypto Nightmare: Investors Apprehended in Brutal Bitcoin Kidnapping

Victim Escapes Manhattan Townhouse After Weeks of Torture

In a chilling twist in the world of cryptocurrency, police have nabbed two crypto investors accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian man in a plush Manhattan townhouse. The victim alleges that his tormentors forced him to cough up his Bitcoin account password.

32-year-old William Duplessie just handed himself over to the cops, linked to the harrowing abduction where the victim says he endured weeks of torture in a ritzy New York townhouse at the hands of crypto investors hungry for his BTC stash.

Duplessie, the second suspect to be cuffed, is now facing a slew of charges including kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and weapon possession. His partner-in-crime, fellow crypto enthusiast John Woeltz, got arrested just four days earlier after their victim made a daring escape.

Online, Duplessie struts as the co-founder and head of sourcing at Pangea Blockchain Fund, diving deep into blockchain investments. Woeltz, on the other hand, calls himself a blockchain investor with a stint in Silicon Valley, later delving into the crypto mining scene in Kentucky.

On May 23, a traffic agent stumbled upon a 28-year-old Italian man by the roadside—bloodied, barefoot, and bearing the scars of nearly three weeks of brutal torture in an eight-bedroom Soho, Manhattan townhouse. He claimed to have been beaten, drugged, shocked, and threatened with death.

Police say that on May 6, Duplessie and Woeltz lured the victim to the townhouse, where they allegedly tried to shake him down for his Bitcoin password.

The victim told the cops that over 17 agonizing days, he was bound, shocked, forced to smoke crack, and had a gun pressed to his head. At one terrifying moment, he was even dangled from the top of the stairs.

Convinced he was staring death in the face, the victim finally caved and agreed to hand over his Bitcoin password on a fateful Friday morning. But when his captors went to fetch his computer, he seized the moment and bolted from the house.

Now recovering in the hospital, the man's injuries match the grim evidence the authorities found back at the Manhattan townhouse.

This shocking case is just the latest in a wave of violent crimes hitting the crypto world. Just days ago on May 27, French police rounded up over a dozen suspects tied to two attempted kidnappings in Paris, targeting a crypto entrepreneur and a crypto exchange CEO.