Bitcoin investor held hostage, tortured for weeks in NYC, prosecutors say

Two accused pleaded not guilty of having removed and tortured a man for weeks on his portfolio password.

Removers become a serious threat to high -level cryptographic investors. Wednesday June 11, John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33, Pleaded not guilty Kidnap a bitcoin investor and try to steal his portfolio data.

According to the prosecutors, the two men held and tortured The victim for three weeks from May 6, in a SOHO luxury apartment in New York. They would beat him, shocked him with electric wires and held him on a staircase before managing to escape.

The torture was intended to force the investor to hand over his Bitcoin portfolio password, which would have given the attackers control of his crypto. If they are convicted, the two suspects face the life prison for brutal kidnapping.

Bitcoin kidnappings become a growing risk

Bitcoin and high -level crypto investors are increasingly attractive goals for kidnappers. Unlike traditional banking transfers, cryptographic transactions cannot be canceled or reversed. This means that once the attackers have access to the funds, there is almost no way to recover them.

For this reason, kidnappers tend to target known individuals to have substantial cryptography investments. In particular, France has become a major epicenter for cryptography kidnappings, with at least Six incidents Recorded in May 2025.

Cryptographic investors and their families are in danger with regard to kidnappings. In a very publicized case in France, masked attackers attempted to kidnap The girl and grandson of Pierre Noizat, CEO of Crypto Exchange Paymium.

To protect themselves, crypto holders should never announce their assets or disclose the sales. At the same time, large assets must be kept on cold storage devices or with guards, so that the attackers cannot easily access it.