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By Nikhilesh De, Cheyenne Ligon|Edited by Jesse Hamilton
Updated May 29, 2025, 10:28 p.m. Published May 29, 2025, 10:18 p.m.
- Two of the individuals accused of kidnapping and torturing a crypto investor for his Bitcoin have pleaded not guilty to various charges.
- Two New York Police Department officers worked for the defendants in their off-duty hours and have been placed on “modified duty.”
- The officers are not suspected of being involved in the kidnapping or torture.
Two men suspected in the kidnapping and torture of a 28-year-old Italian cryptocurrency investor have pleaded not guilty, while the investigation into their case appears to have expanded to the New York Police Department itself.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
New York police had previously arrested William Duplessie, 33, and John Woeltz, 37, on the charges, as well as a third individual, Beatrice Folchi, 24, though her prosecution is being deferred. The victim has not been publicly named.
The men are accused of kidnapping the victim and holding him hostage in a luxury townhouse in Manhattan’s ritzy SoHo neighborhood for more than two weeks. During that time, New York City police say the trio tortured the man, forcing him to take drugs, dangling him from a ledge, urinating on him and electrocuting him in an effort to force him to hand over the private keys to his bitcoin. The alleged perpetrators are accused of making t-shirts of the victim with a crack pipe in his mouth and taking Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head.
The victim escaped last Friday, grabbing his laptop and getting out of the townhouse and then seeking help from a traffic officer.
Duplessie entered a not-guilty plea to five different charges, including kidnapping with an intent to collect a ransom, kidnapping and causing a physical injury, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, assault with an intent to cause a physical injury with a weapon and unlawful imprisonment, according to the court docket.
Woeltz was charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, and he also pleaded not guilty, according to his court docket.
Two NYPD officers, including a detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams’ protection detail, worked for both Duplessie and Woeltz in their off-duty hours and have now been placed on modified duty, Bloomberg reported Thursday. A source familiar told CoinDesk that the two officers are not believed to be part of the kidnapping, but rather did security work for the defendants. They may have driven the victim from an airport to the townhouse, but have not been tied to his torture, the source said.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said the matter was “under internal review.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said in a statement that, “Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. 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.”
UPDATE (May 29, 2025, 22:27 UTC): Adds additional detail.
Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk’s managing editor for global policy and regulation, covering regulators, lawmakers and institutions. He owns < $50 in BTC and < $20 in ETH. He won a Gerald Loeb award in the beat reporting category as part of CoinDesk’s blockbuster FTX coverage in 2023, and was named the Association of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers’ Journalist of the Year in 2020.
On the news team at CoinDesk, Cheyenne focuses on crypto regulation and crime. Cheyenne is originally from Houston, Texas. She studied political science at Tulane University in Louisiana. In December 2021, she graduated from CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she focused on business and economics reporting. She has no significant crypto holdings.
