A Manhattan crypto investor is facing serious charges after allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian man in a disturbing bid to extract access to digital assets.
John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned on Saturday in Manhattan criminal court following his arrest on Friday. He stands accused of holding a 28-year-old Italian man captive for weeks inside a luxury townhouse in Soho, reportedly rented for $30,000 per month.
According to police reports cited by The New York Times, the victim arrived in the US on May 6 and was allegedly abducted by Woeltz and an accomplice.
The attackers are said to have stolen the man’s passport and electronic devices before demanding the password to his Bitcoin (BTC) wallet. When he refused, the suspects allegedly subjected him to prolonged physical abuse.
Related: Violent crypto robberies on the rise: Six attacks that targeted investors
Crypto victim beaten, electroshocked
The victim described being beaten, shocked with electricity, assaulted with a firearm and even dangled from the upper floors of the five-story building.
He also told police that Woeltz used a saw to cut his leg and forced him to smoke crack cocaine. Threats were also reportedly made against his family.
Photographic evidence found inside the property, including Polaroids, appears to support claims of sustained abuse. The victim managed to escape on Friday and alert authorities, leading to Woeltz’s arrest.
Woeltz was charged with four felony counts, including kidnapping for ransom, and entered a plea of not guilty. Judge Eric Schumacher ordered him to be held without bail. He is expected back in court on May 28.
A 24-year-old woman was also taken into custody on Friday in connection with the incident. However, she was seen walking freely in New York the next day, and no charges against her were found in the court’s online database.
Authorities have yet to clarify the relationship between the suspect and the victim or whether any cryptocurrency was ultimately stolen.
Related: Crypto crime goes industrial as gangs launch coins, launder billions — UN
Crypto executives turn to bodyguards
Executives and investors in the crypto industry are increasingly seeking personal security services as kidnapping and ransom cases surge, especially in France.
On May 18, Amsterdam-based private firm Infinite Risks International reported a rise in requests for bodyguards and long-term protection contracts from high-profile figures in the space.
French authorities have responded by introducing enhanced protections for crypto entrepreneurs and their families, including security briefings and priority access to police assistance.
This comes amid a recent surge in kidnappings and ransom attempts. David Balland, the co-founder of hardware wallet company Ledger, was kidnapped in January 2025 and held for ransom for several days before being rescued by French police.
In May 2024, the father of an unnamed crypto entrepreneur was freed from a ransom attempt after French law enforcement officials raided the location in a Paris suburb where the individual was being held hostage by organized criminals.
Magazine: Bitcoiner sex trap extortion? BTS firm’s blockchain disaster: Asia Express
In Minneapolis, the spot where George Floyd was murdered has been turned into a mural.
His face is depicted in street art on a pavement covered in flowers, rosaries, and other trinkets left by people who have come to pay their respects in the last five years.
His final moments, struggling for breath with white police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, were captured in a viral video that provoked anger, upset, and outrage.
Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck
In Minneapolis and other parts of America, there were protests that at points boiled over into unrest.
The events to mark the fifth anniversary of his death took on a very different tone – one of celebration and joy.
Behind a wooden statue of a clenched fist on one end of a junction now renamed George Perry Floyd Square, people gathered in the morning.
There was a moment of prayer before a brass band began to play and the group marched, while singing and chanting.
George Perry Floyd Square, a makeshift memorial area
‘It made us want to fight harder’
Among those gathered in front of a makeshift stage built in the square were two of Floyd’s family members – his cousin Paris and aunt Mahalia.
To them, the man whose death sparked a racial reckoning in America and further afield, was simply “Perry,” a larger-than-life figure whose presence is missed at family gatherings.
Speaking to me while the speakers behind them thumped and people danced, they didn’t just reflect with sadness though.
There was also pride at a legacy they felt has led to change.
“It made us want to fight harder,” said Mahalia, “and it’s a feeling you cannot explain. When the whole world just stood up.”
George Floyd’s aunt Mahalia and cousin Paris
Referring to Chauvin’s eventual murder charge, Paris added: “I think that from here on out, at least officers know that you’re not going to slide through the cracks. Our voices are heard more.”
The tapestry of items outside the Cup Foods convenience store, now renamed Unity Foods, is not the only makeshift memorial in the area.
A short walk away is the “Say Their Names” cemetery, an art installation honouring black people killed by the police.
Meeting me there later in the day, activist Nikema Levy says the installation and George Floyd Square are called “sacred spaces” in the community.
As someone who took to the streets at the time of Floyd’s death and a community organiser for years before that, she’s constantly stopped by people who want to speak to her.
Activist Nikema Levy speaking to Sky News
‘White supremacy on steroids’
Once we do manage to speak, Levy reminds me of a wider political picture. One that goes beyond Minneapolis and is a fraught one.
In the week of the anniversary, the US Department of Justice rolled back investigations into some of the largest police forces in the country, including in Minneapolis – a move she calls “diabolical.”
“That type of cruelty is what we have seen since Donald Trump took office on January 20th of this year,” she continued.
“From my perspective, that is white supremacy on steroids. And it should come as no surprise that he would take these types of steps, because these are the things that he talked about on the campaign trail.”
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Has US changed five years after George Floyd’s death?
‘True healing has never taken place’
Trump has argued his policing reforms will help make America’s communities safer.
Even on a day of optimism, with a community coming together, Levy’s words in front of headstones bearing the names of black people who have died at the hands of the police are a reminder of how deep the racial divides in America still are – a sentiment she leaves me with.
“From the days of slavery and Jim Crow in this country, we’ve just had the perception of healing, but true healing has never taken place,” she says.
“So the aftermath of George Floyd is yet another example of what we already know.”
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