A cryptographic entrepreneur was arrested on Friday after a tourist from Italy told the Police that he was tortured in the suspect’s luxury apartment in New York City for more than two weeks, according to the police.
The alleged victim, 28, told the Police that he arrived in New York from Italy on May 6 and went to the house of the suspect, identified by the police as John Woeltz.
Woeltz, 37, supposedly took the man’s passport and tortured him before he could escape Friday morning, running to a traffic control officer in search of help, police said. The alleged victim was taken to the hospital, police said.
The cryptographic businessman John Woeltz is shown during a PERPS walk after being arrested on May 23, 2025 in New York.
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The suspect made his initial appearance in the court on Saturday, where he was arrested without bail for charges of kidnapping, assault and illegal imprisonment. He did not enter a plea.
The alleged victim told the Police that Woeltz and another person, who has not been arrested, hit him, used the electric shock and hung it from a shelf after he refused to provide his Bitcoin password, according to the criminal complaint.
The police tape is shown on the scene on May 23, 2025 in New York, where a cryptocurrency businessman allegedly tortured a man for weeks.
Wabc
When the police responded to the house, they found multiple images of Polaroid of the alleged victim tied and tortured in the Soho del suspect apartment, as well as multiple articles of torture in sight, according to police sources.
A weapon was recovered in the house, police said.
