Kentucky Crypto mogul busted for kidnapping Italian bitcoin millionaire in Manhattan
A wealthy Italian crypto entrepreneur was allegedly kidnapped and tortured in a posh Manhattan apartment for 17 days, as his captors tried to force him to surrender the password to his bitcoin fortune, New York police said.
The suspected mastermind, John Woeltz, 37 dubbed the “Crypto King of Kentucky” was arrested on May 23 near the Soho district, after the barefoot victim ran to a police officer claiming he had escaped captivity. Woeltz now faces charges including kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, criminal possession of weapons, and assault. His 24-year-old assistant was detained but not charged.
A second suspect, William Duplessie, 33, founder of Pangea Blockchain International, turned himself in and faces similar charges. Both men allegedly held Italian businessman Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan hostage inside Woeltz’s rented $30,000-a-month apartment since May 6.
According to police reports, the victim had his passport and electronic devices seized upon arrival in the U.S. Woeltz and Duplessie then demanded access to his crypto holdings. When Carturan refused, they allegedly struck him with a rifle, pointed the weapon at his face, and threatened to throw him from the fifth floor.
Defense attorney Wayne Ervin Gosnell argued that Woeltz, a college graduate with no prior criminal record, should be granted conditional release on a $2 million bond. Despite his lack of air travel assets, Woeltz reportedly led an extravagant lifestyle, frequently partying at upscale nightclubs like The Box in New York a scene also linked to the kidnapping apartment.
The incident sheds light on a growing trend of crypto-targeted abductions. Experts like Adam Healy, CEO of crypto-security firm Station70, say such crimes are becoming more common and more brutal. Healy cited a surge in attacks on known crypto holders over the past eight months, fueled by bitcoin’s record-breaking valuation and the ease of transferring digital assets without oversight.
“Historically, if you wanted to kidnap someone with $10 million in a JP Morgan account, that was hard to get to,” Healy explained. “Now, all you need is the password.”
The case is part of a broader pattern of escalating violence in the cryptocurrency world, where fortunes are increasingly vulnerable to physical threats not just cybercrime.
