Manhattan investors kidnap and torture Italian for Bitcoin ransom
- A Manhattan grand jury indicted William Duplessie for kidnapping and torture, along with John Woeltz, after they allegedly held an Italian man captive for Bitcoin.
- The male victim endured 17 days of torment, including physical abuse and psychological intimidation, before managing to escape.
- The arrest and indictment of Duplessie highlight a growing concern over safety in the cryptocurrency industry, as simultaneous investigations in France reveal widespread abduction schemes.
In the United States, a shocking case of kidnapping and torture involving cryptocurrency has surfaced. On May 6, a 28-year-old Italian national was lured to a luxury townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood under threatening pretenses, where he faced 17 days of captivity. The culprits, 32-year-old William Duplessie and 37-year-old John Woeltz, allegedly used electrical wires to torment the victim, forcing him to smoke from a crack pipe and dangled him from a staircase. He eventually agreed to provide his computer password after enduring immense psychological and physical abuse, managing to escape when the captors distractedly went for the device. Following his escape, Duplessie was indicted by a grand jury, facing multiple serious charges, including kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. Both Duplessie and Woeltz remain in custody, and authorities are also investigating their connections to police detectives who worked security at the site of the abduction. Concurrently, in France, authorities have dealt with a larger scale of criminal activity targeting the cryptocurrency sector. French police initiated a major crackdown on crypto-related kidnappings that began escalating in early 2025, leading to the arrest of 25 suspects connected to multiple abductions and attempts to extort crypto executives. The investigation gained public attention after a brazen attack on May 13, when a CEO's daughter and grandson were nearly kidnapped. The suspects, mostly aged between 16 and 23, are alleged to be involved in various plots, revealing a disturbing trend of escalating violence aimed at high-profile individuals in the cryptocurrency industry. While arrests were primarily focused on subordinates within these criminal activities, the main instigators remain at large, raising concerns about the protection of cryptocurrency figures as they navigate increasingly dangerous environments. This growing threat to public safety among cryptocurrency professionals has led to increased discussions about security measures, with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau convening a meeting with industry representatives to discuss strategies for enhanced collaboration between law enforcement and the cryptocurrency industry. The authorities have emphasized the need for better protective measures to counteract the risks faced by tech entrepreneurs involved in digital currencies, aiming to create a framework that improves safety and security for crypto stakeholders while addressing fears stemming from ongoing criminal plots around the sector.