Crypto
New York crypto investor accused of kidnapping Italian tourist
A 37-year-old cryptocurrency investor appeared in court on Saturday after being arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist in a Manhattan home, according to media reports.
John Woeltz was arraigned in New York Criminal Court at 9:00 EST (14:00 BST) on charges of kidnapping with intent to collect ransom, assault, unlawful imprisonment and other counts, court records show.
A second person, 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi, was arrested on Saturday in connection to the case, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
The pair were taken into custody after the victim managed to escape a home in SoHo, where he was allegedly tortured and bound for weeks, police said.
The BBC has contacted the New York Police Department, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and Mr Woeltz’s attorney for comment.
The 28-year-old victim, who has not been named, was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, police have said. Officers found several Polaroid photos of the victim being tied up and tortured, as well as firearms, in the luxury townhome, according to reports.
The victim told police he came to New York from Italy on 6 May, and that upon arriving at the suspect’s house, Mr Woeltz took his passport and allegedly held him captive until he escaped on Friday morning.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News, the victim told police that Mr Woeltz and another person beat him and hanged him off a ledge when he refused to provide his bitcoin password.
Mr Woeltz is a crypto investor from Kentucky and has been renting the SoHo home for between $30,000 (£22,000) and $40,000 per month, according to CBS News.
MADISON, WI (WTAQ) — A new bipartisan bill is the state legislature is attempting to keep Wisconsinites safe from scammers.
Assembly Bill 968 creates consumer protections around cryptocurrency kiosks—and is aimed at stopping criminals from using crypto-kiosks to steal from victims. It was passed by the assembly last month and is now heading to the senate.
Americans lost over $330 million to scams involving crypto-kiosks in 2025.
As amended; the bill that passed the assembly would:
- set daily transaction limits at $1,000
- require cryptocurrency-kiosk operators to provide users with receipts
- implement consumer-identification measures for every transaction
- allow scam victims to receive refunds
“This also requires crypto-kiosk operators to be licensed as a money transmitter with the Department of Financial Institutions,” said bill co-author Representative Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah). “Right now there is no state statute with regards to these crypto machines, and there has to be some oversight.”
Over 700 cryptocurrency kiosks are located in convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, and other locations throughout Wisconsin.
Detective Kevin Bahl with the Green Bay Police Department says although these scams don’t discriminate, scammers usually target the senior population.
“That’s because they’re the ones with more of the built up funds; that they can lose a significant of money, but we have seen a lot of younger victims too,” said Det. Bahl. “Victims are losing anywhere between a couple thousand dollars, all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The senate will reconvene beginning the second week of March, where Rep. Kaufert believes they will pass Senate Bill 975. Then the bill will go to the governor for approval by April 1. If approved, the law would likely go into effect around June.
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