Man Paying KSh 9.7m Monthly Rent Arrested after Allegedly Kidnapping Tourist for Bitcoin Password

• A 37-year-old cryptocurrency investor, John Woeltz, has been arrested in New York for allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist in an attempt to steal his Bitcoin password
• The victim, a 28-year-old man who arrived in New York in early May, was reportedly held captive for weeks in Woeltz’s rented townhouse
• Prosecutors said the victim was drugged, shocked with electric wires, beaten, and threatened with death until he finally gave up his digital wallet password

Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has over four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting experience, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.

A cryptocurrency investor with a taste for luxury living has been arrested and charged with a brutal kidnapping and torture scheme aimed at stealing a tourist’s Bitcoin fortune.

Authorities in New York said 37-year-old John Woeltz held an Italian tourist captive for weeks, subjecting him to a harrowing ordeal to force him to surrender his digital wallet password.

Who was tortured for bitcoin password?

The victim, a 28-year-old man who arrived in New York from Italy in early May, was abducted on May 6 and allegedly held hostage in Woeltz’s eight-bedroom residence.

Prosecutors described the apartment, located in one of Manhattan’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, as the site of weeks-long torture, where the victim was bound, drugged, electroshocked, and beaten.

According to the Daily Mail, the apartment was recently listed for KSh 9.7 million (approximately $75,000) in monthly rent.

Woeltz was arrested on Friday night after the victim made a daring escape, sprinting into the street and flagging down a traffic officer.

He was arraigned on Saturday on multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a firearm.

The court ordered that he be held without bail, citing significant flight risk due to his access to a private jet and helicopter.

"This was a calculated and sadistic attempt to strip a man of his digital assets through physical terror," prosecutor Michael Mattson told the court.

New York Crime scene

Investigators uncovered a chilling scene in the townhouse, where there was coc*ine, chicken wire, a saw, body armour, night vision goggles, ammunition, and Polaroid photos showing the victim with a gun to his head.

At one point, Woeltz and others involved in the scheme allegedly dangled the victim over a stairwell, threatening to kill him if he didn’t give up the Bitcoin password stored on his laptop.

When he finally complied, and Woeltz turned his back to retrieve the password, the victim seized the opportunity to flee.

Authorities say Woeltz was not acting alone and referenced at least one "unapprehended male" believed to have participated in the plot. The motive was clear: to drain the victim’s cryptocurrency holdings.

The case highlights the dark intersection of tech wealth and crime, where fortunes stored in digital wallets have become targets for extreme and violent schemes.

The victim, whose name has not been released, is recovering from injuries consistent with prolonged physical abuse, according to hospital reports.

Bitcoin hits record high prices

In other news, Bitcoin surged to a record high of $109,499.76 (approximately KSh 14.3 million) on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

The surge was fueled by growing optimism over bipartisan support for a US cryptocurrency regulation bill, particularly focused on stablecoins.

The rally reflects renewed investor confidence driven by hopes for clearer regulatory frameworks and a more favourable global economic climate.

The digital asset broke the $100,000 (KSh 13.1 million) mark earlier in May following a US-UK trade deal and was further buoyed by Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance in his re-election campaign.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke