Three arrested in New York for torturing Italian tourist in Bitcoin wallet robbery

Authorities in New York have arrested three individuals for kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist in a failed attempt to steal his cryptocurrency holdings. According to a New York Times report , the third suspect, 33-year-old William Duplessie, surrendered to police on May 27 following days of negotiations and faces multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon, and was remanded without bail. Duplessie’s arrest came days after police detained 37-year-old crypto investor John Woeltz and 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi. Woeltz remains in custody on kidnapping and firearms charges, while Folchi was released shortly after her arrest with prosecution deferred, according to officials. The case came to light on May 24, when the victim, 28-year-old Italian tourist Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, escaped from a luxury townhouse in Manhattan’s NoLIta neighborhood. Carturan was reportedly lured back to New York by Woeltz under false pretenses after the two fell out over financial disputes linked to a crypto hedge fund. On May 6, shortly after arriving at the Manhattan townhouse, Carturan was ambushed by Woeltz and Folchi, who allegedly sought access to a Bitcoin wallet said to hold millions. Over the next three weeks, he was subjected to repeated assaults while being held captive. According to prosecutors, he was bound with electrical cords, beaten with a firearm, and subjected to electric shocks while his feet were submerged in water. Investigators found extensive evidence inside the rental property, including photographs of the torture, weapons, a ballistic vest, chicken wire, broken furniture, and blood stains, particularly on the third floor. Carturan escaped barefoot, flagged down a traffic officer, and relayed the details of his captivity. Surveillance footage shows him in visible distress as he fled the property wearing athletic shorts and carrying a small black bag. Criminals target crypto investors The case has drawn fresh attention to a growing trend of violent crimes targeting cryptocurrency investors. Law enforcement agencies globally have begun to register a sharp rise in such cases , with attackers using increasingly sophisticated tactics to extract digital assets from victims. On the same day as Duplessie’s surrender, French police arrested over a dozen suspects, many of them minors, in connection with two attempted kidnappings in Paris. In one case, the father of a crypto entrepreneur was abducted and mutilated by a gang demanding a €5 to €7 million ransom in cryptocurrency. The assailants, disguised in a fake UPS van, severed the man’s finger to pressure his son. He was later rescued in a raid by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme. In a separate incident in the French capital, three masked individuals tried to abduct the daughter of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat in broad daylight. She managed to escape with help from bystanders. Authorities suspect the involvement of a larger criminal network. In response, France’s Interior Ministry has ramped up security for crypto executives and their families. Elsewhere in the US, three Florida teenagers were recently charged with kidnapping, robbery, and extortion after allegedly abducting a man and stealing $4 million in cryptocurrency and NFTs. The post Three arrested in New York for torturing Italian tourist in Bitcoin wallet robbery appeared first on Invezz

Source: Invezz