For 37-year-old crypto investor John Woeltz, the legal hurdles could be grim. Rather than collaborating on a real bill, he was arrested on Friday for allegedly masterminding an extortion, kidnapping, and torture scheme. On Saturday morning, he was due for arraignment in Manhattan criminal court. He faced down four felony charges, one of which was kidnapping with intent to extort ransoms. Woeltz pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case concerns the deplorable, senseless killing of a 28-year-old Italian man. He allegedly was arrested and tortured in an apartment leased by Woeltz in the ritzy Soho area of Manhattan, where rents are $30,000 a month. According to federal authorities, Woeltz and two co-conspirators kidnapped the Italian man in order to obtain cryptocurrency passwords.
Details of the alleged torture are harrowing. Law enforcement officials alleged that the victim was subjected to extreme physical torture, including beatings, electrocution, and threats with a firearm. In a gruesome new level of violence, they hung him from the roof of the five-story building. They were even more sinister—they promised to murder him if he didn’t cooperate. The young Italian man was able to get away on Friday and went right to local police to report the crime.
When law enforcement showed up to arrest the perpetrators, they were shocked to find visible evidence of the supposed torture. Eventually, they discovered Polaroid photographs that recorded their weeks-long ordeal. These results are alarming enough on their own to sound the alarm on the seriousness of this crisis. Woeltz refused to talk with police at the time of his arrest and has since retained legal counsel.
Justice Eric Schumacher presided over Woeltz’s arraignment, and he ordered that Woeltz been remanded without bail. His next court appearance is set for Wednesday. The Italian tourist allegedly first entered the US on May 6. Not long after, thieves—led by Woeltz—abducted him and his wife.
This case should serve as a wake-up call to the dangerous abuses of cryptocurrency and the potential criminal enterprises it can fuel. While the investigations are ongoing, the upcoming legal proceedings will hopefully bring more clarity to the allegations swirling around John Woeltz and his company and partners.