What to Know
- An Italian man escaped from a house on Prince Street in New York City last week, where he said he had been held captive for 17 days and allegedly tortured by two business partners
- Two NYPD members, including a detective on Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail have been placed on modified desk duty after links surfaced to the two crypto businessmen charged with kidnapping an Italian tourist, sources tell News 4
- The detective allegedly provided security for the Prince Street townhouse where the Italian man was held and it’s believed he may have picked up the tourist from the airport and brought him to SoHo, sources tell News 4
- City Hall said it is “disturbed by these allegations” and the investigation into the officer’s behavior is ongoing
- John Woeltz, was arrested in his bathrobe outside the scene; he is expected in court on kidnap and torture charges, among others, on Wednesday. A second suspect, William Duplessie, surrendered in connection with the case a day ago
Internal investigators with the NYPD are said to be looking into whether two detectives hired to provide security at a Manhattan townhouse where inside when two crypto businessmen allegedly completed acts of torture against their partner in a hunt for his Bitcoin password, sources familiar with the case tell News 4.
Two members of the NYPD, including a detective in Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail, were placed on modified duty this week after links surfaced to the weekslong torture of an Italian businessman at the Prince Street townhouse in Nolita. Sources believe the detective – working off-duty for the two crypto businessmen – also picked up the Italian tourist from the airport earlier this month.
The law enforcement sources further indicate the internal investigators are working to determine whether any additional members of the NYPD were hired by John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who are both charged in the case.
Sources believe the two NYPD members linked to the crypto businessmen were working without the knowledge or authorization of the police department and their employment may constitute a violation of departmental policies and procedures.
“Members of the service were modified yesterday. The matter is under internal review,” the NYPD said in a statement Thursday.
When asked if the NYPD detective on Adams’ security detail had his employment with Woeltz verified, an official at the mayor’s office declined to comment further.
It is not unusual for members of the NYPD to moonlight in outside security jobs while off-duty, though it is not known whether this particular side gig was approved by the department.
“Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,” City Hall said in a statement. “We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.”
Woeltz and Duplessie are both being held on multiple charges including kidnapping.
A second man is set to face a judge after his arrest in a shocking investigation involving cryptocurrency, kidnapping and torture. William Duplessie surrendered to the NYPD on Tuesday, accused of holding an Italian businessman hostage for weeks in an effort to gain access to his Bitcoin accunt. NBC New York’s Marc Santia reports.
The 37-year-old Woeltz was denied bail following a grand jury indictment Thursday. He has been jailed since his bathrobed arrest Friday outside the luxury rental on Prince Street. The judge said the grand jury indictment would remain sealed until his arraignment, set for June 11. Woeltz didn’t appear in person Thursday.
The Italian tourist, who escaped after giving up his Bitcoin password after a weeks-long ordeal, arrived in New York on May 6, allegedly lured there by John Woeltz and another business partner. One of the detectives brought him to the Nolita home.
Duplessie surrendered to police earlier in the week and was indicted Friday afternoon. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11. He faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment.
On May 6, they allegedly lured the man — whose name has not been released by officials — to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, one of the city’s most expensive, by threatening to kill his family.
The man said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.
He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The victim made it onto the street, bloodied and shoeless, according to police.
A search of the townhouse turned up cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, according to prosecutors.
Multiple sources familiar with the case told NBC New York on Thursday that a gun recovered at the Prince Street home was being looked at by investigators to see if it was previously owned by one of the NYPD detectives placed on modified duty, stripped of their guns and badges. The weapon is not an NYPD-issued gun, sources said.
Who is John Woeltz?
Authorities believe Woeltz is a big-name cryptocurrency trader from Kentucky with an estimated worth around $100 million; sources said the victim is worth an estimated $30 million. Woeltz had reportedly been renting out the Nolita residence at a monthly rate of at least $30,000.
The luxury six-story pad has an elevator and was described by sources as a “high-end frat house” with bottles of liquor strewn about and stripper poles in the basement. Neighbors said they could hear loud partying at all hours of the night, but they had no idea of the alleged torture going on within its walls.
Sources told News 4 that Woeltz and Duplessie roughed up the victim in the past, but not to the same extent. He would get picked on by the other two, but their treatment of him was not as violent. Sources described the relationship among the three as complex, with a “Wolf of Wall Street/frat guys gone wild” element to it.
