{"id":850969,"date":"2025-05-25T09:12:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T14:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/25\/crypto-entrepreneur-arrested-for-kidnapping-and-torturing-his-ex-business-partner-with-chainsaw-and-cocaine\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T09:12:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T14:12:23","slug":"crypto-entrepreneur-arrested-for-kidnapping-and-torturing-his-ex-business-partner-with-chainsaw-and-cocaine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/25\/crypto-entrepreneur-arrested-for-kidnapping-and-torturing-his-ex-business-partner-with-chainsaw-and-cocaine\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto entrepreneur arrested for kidnapping and torturing his ex-business partner with chainsaw and cocaine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-id=\"170940\" data-url=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/crypto-related-crime-kentucky-incident\/\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/regulation\/\" rel=\"tag\"><br \/>\n                    Regulation                <\/a>\n                    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/\">Home<\/a><\/span> \u00bb <span><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/regulation\/\">Regulation<\/a><\/span> \u00bb <span aria-current=\"page\">Crypto entrepreneur arrested for kidnapping and torturing his ex-business partner with chainsaw and cocaine<\/span><\/span>        <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>by<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a data-author_id=\"29816\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/team\/vivian-nguyen\/\" rel=\"author\">Vivian Nguyen<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2025-05-24T16:35:14+00:00\"><br \/>\n                        May. 24, 2025                    <\/time>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Despite being physically injured, the victim managed to escape from captivity and reach the police.<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n            <picture><source media=\"(min-width: 850px)\" ><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"http:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/5a9864ba-25fc-48e9-85ab-0c948c3bdbd1.jpg\" alt=\"Crypto entrepreneur arrested for kidnapping and torturing his ex-business partner with chainsaw and cocaine\" title=\"http:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/5a9864ba-25fc-48e9-85ab-0c948c3bdbd1.jpg\">\n            <\/picture>\n        <\/section>\n<section>\n<section>\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A Kentucky crypto investor was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist to extract crypto passwords.<\/li>\n<li>Two suspects face multiple charges including first-degree kidnapping and assault due to the alleged crime in a Manhattan apartment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Share this article<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>        <?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><\/p>\n<p>A Kentucky crypto entrepreneur has been arrested and faces severe charges after allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist with a chainsaw and other brutal methods to force him to hand over crypto account passwords, police sources <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/05\/23\/us-news\/kentucky-crypto-investor-allegedly-tortured-captive-italian-tourist-for-weeks-in-luxury-nyc-apartment-sources\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">told<\/a> the New York Post. <\/p>\n<p>The suspect, John Woeltz, was taken into custody on Friday after the Italian victim made an escape from a luxury SoHo townhouse, where he had allegedly been held captive and abused for more than two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The man managed to break free from his restraints, flee the residence, and flag down a nearby police officer to report the torture. Sources said he made the move fearing he would be killed on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old victim told investigators he was Woeltz\u2019s former business partner, but a falling out led him to leave the country.<\/p>\n<p>He flew back to the US on May 6, reportedly at Woeltz\u2019s urging, and went straight to the brownstone on Prince Street, where the ordeal began.<\/p>\n<h2>Chainsaw, Polaroids, and blood found at scene<\/h2>\n<p>Once police received the report, officers from the 5th Precinct rushed to the Prince Street property and uncovered a chilling scene with bloodstains, broken furniture, and disturbing evidence strewn throughout the multi-million-dollar rental.<\/p>\n<p>There was a Polaroid photo showing the victim bound and gagged with electrical cords, and a picture of him tied to a chair with a gun pointed at his head, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p>The victim had been allegedly Tased, pistol-whipped, and forced to take cocaine, while Woeltz threatened to cut off his limbs with an electric chainsaw unless he handed over access to his crypto holdings.<\/p>\n<p>Police also recovered several items from the scene, including a chainsaw with apparent blood residue, a bulletproof vest, night vision goggles, and a firearm. An Apple AirTag was allegedly placed around the victim\u2019s neck to track his movements and deter escape.<\/p>\n<p>The victim was transported to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, where his condition was confirmed to be stable.<\/p>\n<p>Woeltz was arrested at the scene, reportedly wearing a bathrobe. A number of charges are being brought against him, including two counts of second-degree assault, a first-degree kidnapping, an unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, and criminal possession of weapons in the first degree.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NYPD police officers remove John Woeltz, 37 from a home on Prince St. near Mulberry St. in Manhattan on Friday, May 23, 2025, after an Italian man claimed he was held against his will at the location for 3 weeks.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8SVK0hX7uq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/8SVK0hX7uq<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rFhWuapyXr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/rFhWuapyXr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \ua9c1????????????????????????????????????\u2671\ua9c2 (@Eilatan87) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Eilatan87\/status\/1926101766644351385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script type=\"rocketlazyloadscript\" async data-rocket-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Police have also arrested Beatrice Folchi, believed to be involved in the kidnapping and torture. A third male suspect remains at large, with law enforcement actively searching for him.<\/p>\n<p><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-banner mrec-in-article\">\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4 ai-track\" data-ai=\"WzQsIiIsIk1SRUMgSW4tYXJ0aWNsZSAtIDMwMHgyNTAiLCIiLDFd\" style=\"margin: 8px 0; clear: both; width: 300px; height: 250px;\">\n<div class=\"ai-rotate ai-unprocessed\" data-shares=\"WzEwMF0=\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ai-rotate-option\" style=\"visibility: hidden;\" data-index=\"1\" data-name=\"U2V2aW8=\">\n<div style=\"width: 300px; height: 250px\">\n<script type=\"rocketlazyloadscript\" async data-rocket-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.adx.ws\/scripts\/loader.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"sevioads\" data-zone=\"e895191b-6d01-4021-992d-173ebfdf2d63\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"rocketlazyloadscript\">\n    window.sevioads = window.sevioads || [];\n    var sevioads_preferences = [];\n    sevioads_preferences[0] = {};\n    sevioads_preferences[0].zone = \"e895191b-6d01-4021-992d-173ebfdf2d63\";\n    sevioads_preferences[0].adType = \"banner\";\n    sevioads_preferences[0].inventoryId = \"c5700508-581b-472c-8fdd-a931cdbfc8e1\";\n    sevioads_preferences[0].accountId = \"1e47efc1-ec2d-4fca-a8b9-354e249e5095\";\n    sevioads.push(sevioads_preferences);\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p>Investigators are also interviewing two butlers who worked in the Prince Street townhouse and may have witnessed some aspects of the crime.<\/p>\n<h2>Who is John Woeltz?<\/h2>\n<p>Before his name surfaced in connection with the shocking kidnapping and torture case in Manhattan, Woeltz was known in crypto circles as a security-minded developer and early adopter of digital assets.<\/p>\n<p>A former core team member of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/grin-buoyed-exchange-listings\/\" rel=\"\">Grin<\/a>, a privacy-focused crypto project, Woeltz played an important role in its early development. He officially <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.grin.mw\/t\/new-core-team-member-joltz\/7186\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">joined the Grin core team<\/a> in March 2020 after helping organize the project\u2019s first security audit.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/static.cryptobriefing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24120744\/Who-is-John-Woeltz.png\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.cryptobriefing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24120744\/Who-is-John-Woeltz.png\"><\/noscript><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He also appeared publicly at Grincon 2019, where he spoke about the risks that privacy projects face without rigorous security practices.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his prior visibility, his GitHub activity appears to have dropped off after 2020, and his current affiliation with Grin is unclear.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-share\">\n<p>Share this article<\/p>\n<div class=\"social-icons\">\n          <button class=\"social-icon share\" data-href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Crypto+entrepreneur+arrested+for+kidnapping+and+torturing+his+ex-business+partner+with+chainsaw+and+cocaine&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcryptobriefing.com%2Fcrypto-related-crime-kentucky-incident%2F&#038;via=crypto_briefing\" aria-label=\"Share on x\"><br \/>\n        <?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?><br \/>\n                <svg width=\"40px\" height=\"40px\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n                <g id=\"surface1\">\n                <path style=\" stroke:none;fill-rule:nonzero;fill:rgb(0%,0%,0%);fill-opacity:1;\" d=\"M 17.867188 0.148438 C 10.839844 0.878906 4.558594 5.507812 1.707031 12.054688 C -0.132812 16.28125 -0.441406 21.148438 0.867188 25.625 C 2.480469 31.214844 6.652344 35.933594 12.054688 38.292969 C 16.28125 40.132812 21.148438 40.4375 25.628906 39.132812 C 32.332031 37.199219 37.613281 31.695312 39.347656 24.851562 C 42.054688 14.132812 35.414062 3.171875 24.667969 0.613281 C 22.304688 0.0546875 20.226562 -0.09375 17.867188 0.148438 Z M 18.132812 12.535156 C 19.839844 14.800781 21.28125 16.667969 21.332031 16.667969 C 21.386719 16.667969 23.160156 14.800781 25.253906 12.535156 L 29.078125 8.398438 L 31.253906 8.398438 L 30.785156 8.894531 C 30.519531 9.171875 28.785156 11.054688 26.933594 13.066406 C 25.078125 15.078125 23.265625 17.039062 22.90625 17.398438 L 22.265625 18.078125 L 27.265625 24.734375 C 30.011719 28.398438 32.265625 31.441406 32.265625 31.492188 C 32.265625 31.558594 30.628906 31.601562 28.640625 31.601562 L 25 31.585938 L 21.613281 27.054688 C 19.28125 23.921875 18.1875 22.574219 18.078125 22.652344 C 18 22.71875 16.105469 24.761719 13.867188 27.1875 L 9.800781 31.601562 L 8.773438 31.601562 C 8.199219 31.601562 7.734375 31.574219 7.734375 31.535156 C 7.734375 31.492188 9.851562 29.171875 12.441406 26.386719 C 15.011719 23.601562 17.148438 21.265625 17.171875 21.226562 C 17.1875 21.171875 15.066406 18.28125 12.464844 14.800781 C 9.867188 11.332031 7.734375 8.464844 7.734375 8.441406 C 7.734375 8.414062 9.371094 8.398438 11.386719 8.398438 L 15.039062 8.398438 Z M 18.132812 12.535156 \" \/>\n                <path style=\" stroke:none;fill-rule:nonzero;fill:rgb(0%,0%,0%);fill-opacity:1;\" d=\"M 11.027344 10.1875 C 11.082031 10.28125 14.441406 14.785156 18.464844 20.171875 L 25.800781 29.988281 L 27.441406 30 C 28.453125 30 29.066406 29.945312 29.039062 29.867188 C 29.027344 29.800781 25.679688 25.292969 21.628906 19.867188 L 14.238281 10 L 12.585938 10 C 11.214844 10 10.933594 10.027344 11.027344 10.1875 Z M 11.027344 10.1875 \" \/>\n                <\/g>\n                <\/svg>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/crypto-related-crime-kentucky-incident\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Vivian Nguyen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regulation Home \u00bb Regulation \u00bb Crypto entrepreneur arrested for kidnapping and torturing his ex-business partner with chainsaw and cocaine by Vivian Nguyen May. 24, 2025 Despite being physically injured, the victim managed to escape from captivity and reach the police. Key Takeaways A Kentucky crypto investor was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":850970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22791,27830],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-850969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crypto","8":"category-entrepreneur"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}