A U.S. cryptocurrency investor is facing criminal charges after allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian man in Manhattan for weeks in a disturbing scheme to obtain access to his Bitcoin wallet.

Crypto Victim Beaten, Dangled Over Staircase

According to a Saturday report by the Associated Press, John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned on multiple charges after he held a 28-year-old Italian man captive for three weeks in a ritzy Manhattan townhouse, authorities say.

The Italian man arrived in New York in early May and was lured to a five-story rental in the NoLiTa neighborhood on May 6, where prosecutors say Woeltz and unidentified accomplices started abusing him to get access to his Bitcoin.

According to authorities, the man was bound, beaten, drugged, shocked with electric wires, and threatened at gunpoint as part of a prolonged attempt to force him to give up his password. 

At one point, he was held over the ledge of a flight of stairs and told he would be killed if he didn’t give his attackers his crypto wallet credentials. The suspects also allegedly threatened to kill the victim’s family if he did not provide access to the Bitcoin.

The victim eventually managed to escape on Friday after feigning capitulation and telling his captors that he’d give up his Bitcoin password. When Woeltz went to retrieve the man’s laptop from another room, he fled down the stairs and flagged down police officers on the streets.  

Police arrested Woeltz at the scene and discovered cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, night vision goggles, and Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head. He was arraigned Saturday on charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a firearm, and was ordered to be held without bail.

Prosecutors said Woeltz was not acting alone. Beatrice Folchi was also arrested, while a third suspect remains at large.  

Increasing Crypto-Related Kidnapping Cases

The latest incident adds to a string of violent crimes targeting crypto-affiliated individuals or their families. Jameson Lopp, CTO of Bitcoin security firm Casa, has tracked over 25 physical crypto-related attacks occurring so far in 2025, ranging from kidnappings to home invasions.

In May, the daughter and grandson of a French crypto exchange CEO were targeted in an attempted kidnapping in Paris.

And earlier this month, an American tourist was drugged by a fake Uber driver in London who emptied $123,000 in BTC and XRP from his wallets.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 26, 2025 6:14 pm