'Crypto king' has court hearing in NYC kidnapping case

A 37-year-old man known by some as the “crypto king of Kentucky” is on the docket for a court hearing in New York City on Wednesday regarding charges he and a business partner kidnapped and tortured an Italian man, holding him captive inside a posh townhouse in Nolita for weeks in a bid to get the man’s Bitcoin password.

John Woeltz also faces charges including unlawful imprisonment and assault. He was arrested in his bathrobe outside the Prince Street home where he is accused of having held the victim captive. Woeltz was held without bond after his weekend arraignment, after which his attorney did not speak to the media.

He did not appear at Wednesday’s hearing. A lawyer for Woeltz accused prosecutors of “playing games with discovery” by providing redacted material not agreed on by the court. Court was adjourned until Thursday.

The victim, an Italian citizen, was another business partner of Woeltz and William Duplessie, who surrendered a day ago to face charges in the case, officials say. Investigators believe that the relationship among the three men had been tumultuous in the past and this it came to a head when the Italian arrived early in the month.

Woeltz and Duplessie are accused of taking the victim’s passport and electronic devices, then demanding he give them his Bitcoin password. Police say the torture started when the 28-year-old man refused to comply.

He was bound by his wrists and pistol-whipped, had a gun held to his head and a chain saw used on his leg and was urinated on. His captors also dangled him over a staircase and threatened to kill his family, among other coercive measures.

Prosecutors said the victim eventually did give in, escaping only when the men went to find his computer. After 17 days of torture at the hands of the “crypto king,” the victim managed to get out Friday, authorities said.

Police said they found him covered in cuts and bruises, with ligature marks on his wrists from being bound. Video obtained exclusively by NBC New York showed the victim, disheveled and shoeless, running down Spring Street after having broken free, begging a traffic cop for help at the corner of Mulberry Street.

Who is John Woeltz?

Authorities believe Woeltz is a big-name cryptocurrency trader from Kentucky with an estimated worth of $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.

Sources described the luxury six-story pad, which has an elevator, as a “high-end frat house” with bottles of liquor strewn about and stripper poles in the basement. Neighbors said that they could hear loud partying at all hours of the night but that they had no idea of the torture alleged to have been going on within its walls.

Sources told NBC News York 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 never nearly as violent, the sources said. Sources described the relationship among the three as complex, with a “Wolf of Wall Street/frat guys gone wild” element to it.