Crypto entrepreneur arrested for kidnapping and torturing his former business partner with chainsaw and cocaine

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A cryptographic entrepreneur from Kentucky was arrested and faces serious accusations after having pretended to be kidnapped and tortured an Italian tourist with a chainsaw and other brutal methods to force him to put back words of cryptographic accounts, police sources told New York Post.

The suspect, John Woeltz, was placed in police custody on Friday after the Italian victim escaped from a luxury town house Soho, where he was retained captive and mistreated for more than two weeks.

The man managed to free himself from his constraints, to flee the residence and to report a nearby police officer to report torture. Sources said he had moved by fearing that he was killed on Friday.

The 28 -year -old victim told investigators that he was Woeltz’s former trading partner, but a fall led him to leave the country.

He returned to the United States on May 6, apparently at the request of Woeltz, and would go directly to the Brownstone on Prince Street, where the event started.

Chainsaw, polaroids and blood found on stage

Once the police have received the report, police from the 5th district rushed to the property of Rue Prince and discovered a frightening scene with blood stains, broken furniture and disturbing evidence scattered throughout the rental of several million dollars.

There was a polaroid photo showing the victim linked and gagged with electric cords, and a photo of him attached to a chair with a weapon pointed on his head, according to the investigators.

The victim would have been tassed, whipped with the pistol and forced to take cocaine, while Woeltz threatened to cut the members with an electric chainsaw unless he puts access to his cryptographic farms.

The police also recovered several objects from the scene, including a chainsaw with apparent blood residues, a bulletproof vest, night vision glasses and a firearm. An aerial apple would have been placed around the victim’s neck to follow his movements and dissuade the escape.

The victim was transported to Bellevue hospital for treatment, where his condition was confirmed as stable.

Woeltz was arrested on the scene, apparently wearing a bathrobe. A certain number of accusations are brought against him, including two chiefs of second degree assault, an abduction in the first degree, an illegal prison sentence in the first degree and criminal possession of first degree arms.

The NYPD police officers withdraw John Woeltz, 37 years old from a house on Prince St. near Mulberry St. in Manhattan on Friday, May 23, 2025, after an Italian said he was detained against his will on site for 3 weeks. pic.twitter.com/rfhwuapyxr

– ꧁𝐸𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒶𝓃𝟠𝟟♱꧂ (@ eilatan87) May 24, 2025

Police also arrested Béatrice Folchi, who would be involved in kidnapping and torture. A third male suspect remains in freedom, the police were actively looking for him.

Investigators also question two butler who worked in Prince Street’s townhouse and may have witnessed certain aspects of the crime.

Who is John Woeltz?

Before its name made surface in the shocking case of removal and torture in Manhattan, Woeltz was known in Crypto circles as a developer concerned with safety and early adopting of digital assets.

Former member of the Basic team of Grin, a crypto project focused on privacy, Woeltz played an important role in its early development. He officially joined the Grin Core team in March 2020 after helping to organize the first project security audit.

He also publicly appeared in Grincon 2019, where he spoke of the risks that confidentiality projects faced without rigorous security practices.

Despite its previous visibility, its Github activity seems to have dropped after 2020, and its current affiliation with Grin is not clear.

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