By KBC Associate 
Crypto Torture Caper
Second Suspect Held Without Bail
… Allegedly Tortured, Imprisoned Victim
Published
The second suspect in NYC’s notorious crypto torture caper is now cooling his heels behind bars after being hit with formal charges by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors filed a criminal court complaint Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, charging Bitcoin entrepreneur William Duplessie with several felonies — kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon.
DECEMBER 2017
Facebook/Tai Lopez
At his arraignment Tuesday evening, Duplessie was ordered held without bail after prosecutors asked the judge to remand him due to the severity of the crimes.
According to the criminal complaint, Duplessie and his alleged cohort, John Woeltz, lured their business partner, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, to their fancy Soho townhouse earlier this month.
Police say the three men were involved in a Bitcoin venture that went awry after Duplessie and Woeltz seized Carturan’s electronic devices and passport inside the townhouse on May 6.
For the next three weeks, Duplessie and Woeltz allegedly kept Carturan a prisoner while demanding his password to a Bitcoin wallet worth millions.
But, Carturan refused to cough it up even after police say his two abductors tortured him by using electric wires to shock him and pointed a gun at his head. Duplessie and Woeltz also allegedly hung Carturan over a ledge at the top of a staircase, threatening to kill him if he didn’t turn over the password.
According to the complaint, Duplessie and Woeltz went so far as to bind and tie Carturan’s wrists, insisting they would murder his family if they didn’t get what they wanted.
#BREAKING: 2nd suspect surrenders in NYC ‘crypto king’ townhouse torture case, @MarcSantia4NY reports https://t.co/SyQVasO8lB
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 27, 2025
@NBCNewYork
Police say Carturan managed to escape, dashing out of the townhouse and flagging down an NYPD traffic enforcement agent for help.
Cops quickly responded and arrested Woeltz at the scene, leading him out of the residence in handcuffs with no shoes on and in his bathrobe. Prosecutors charged Woeltz with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon. He, too, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment.