The twisted crypto king accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian man in a posh Soho pad is worth $100 million, according to law enforcement sources, who described the victim’s harrowing weeks-long ordeal as “The Wolf of Wall Street” meets “American Psycho.”
John Woeltz was ordered held without bail Saturday on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault, and criminal possession of a weapon and forced to turn over his passport during an appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court, where prosecutors revealed chilling new details of the disturbing plot to allegedly force the victim to hand over his Bitcoin password.
Woeltz, 37, allegedly threatened to kill the victim’s family in Italy and at one point, “carried the victim to the top flight of stairs of the apartment in the compound and hung the victim over the ledge, after threatening to kill the victim if the victim did not provide the defendant with the victim’s Bitcoin password,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson told Judge Eric Schumacher.
The victim was urinated on and forced to take drugs during the ordeal, prosecutors said
Authorities found T-shirts with an image of the victim with crack cocaine in his mouth
Woeltz has a private jet and a helicopter, authorities said as they requested he be held without bail. Public records also show Woeltz as the owner of a 150-acre spread in rural Kentucky
The victim, from Turin, Italy, had told his family he was traveling to the US “for a trip of tourism and language learning,” the Italian news outlet la Repubblica reported.
The man, who prosecutors said made a daring escape after nearly three weeks of physical abuse, had at one point been studying psychology in college, but then dropped out to trade crypto, according to another Italian news report.
Woeltz, who appeared in court with his hands cuffed behind his back, wearing black jogging pants, a white t-shirt and black Adidas slides with white socks, “has the means to flee,” Mattson told the judge.
Schumacher granted the request to send Woeltz to jail without bail and issued an order of protection to the victim. Woeltz’s lawyer, Wayne Gosnell, did not request bail during the arraignment and declined comment after the proceeding.
Woeltz faces 15 to 25 years in prison on the charges.
The victim, 28, finally managed his daring, made-for-television escape by telling Woeltz he would give up the password by plugging it into his laptop, the ADA said in court.
When Woeltz turned his back to get the computer, the bloodied victim — who had no shoes on — bolted down the stairs and fled to the street, where he was able to flag down a traffic cop.
The nightmare began May 6, when the victim arrived in the Big Apple from Turin, Italy, where he lives with his family, according to authorities and Italian news reports.
When he went to meet Woeltz at the luxurious, eight-bedroom Prince Street pad the Kentucky man had allegedly been renting for $30,000 to $40,000 a month, the crypto bigshot and a pal allegedly snatched his passport and electronics, and demanded he provide them with his Bitcoin password, authorities said.
The home had stripper poles in the basement and cases of Cristal, said law enforcement sources, with one describing the property as a “crypto commune.”
The victim, who is worth about $30 million, suffered a litany of torture, according to sources and prosecutors.
He was tied up and bound to a chair with electrical wire, tased while his feet were placed in water, cut on his legs and arm with a chainsaw, sources said.
Polaroids found inside showing the victim being tied up with electrical wire, one of him bound to a chair with a gun pointed at his head, and another of him being forced to smoke crack cocaine through a pipe, sources said.
Along with the Polaroids – which were likely intended to be used to extort money either from the victim or his family back in Italy, cop sources said – police discovered broken glass, night vision goggles, a bulletproof vest, ballistic helmets, a firearm and ammunition in the blood-soaked torture chamber, cop sources and prosectors said.
The victim also had an Apple AirTag tied around his neck.
At least one suspect, who is believed to have worked for Woeltz, is still being sought, sources said, while Woeltz’ assistant, Beatrice Folchi, was initially charged with first-degree kidnapping but later released after the District Attorney declined to prosecute, pending further investigation.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital for injuries including a wound on his arm believed to be a cut from the chainsaw and a cut on his head from being pistol-whipped, according to sources and a criminal complaint.
It’s unclear how much time Woeltz spent in the Big Apple before his arrest, or how he amassed his wealth. Sources said he worked in Blockchain and other online currency forms identifying security flaws, and may have been involved in a hedge fund which invested in crypto assets.
He owns a sprawling, nearly 150-acre farm in Smithland, Kentucky, just outside Peducah, worth more than $860,000.
