Crypto investor accused of torturing man for access to Bitcoin password

A cryptocurrency investor is facing charges of kidnapping and assault after officials alleged he tortured another man for weeks while demanding information to access their Bitcoin. 

John Woeltz, a 37-year-old man, pleaded not guilty Saturday to the charges he faces, including kidnapping with intent to collect ransom, assault with intent to cause physical injury, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm. 

Prosecutors allege that Woeltz kept the 28-year-old man for weeks in a Manhattan apartment, beginning on May 6, beating and shocking him, and threatening to harm his family if he didn’t hand over his Bitcoin password. He was arrested after the man escaped from the townhouse and flagged a traffic officer on the street for help, a spokesperson for the deputy commissioner of public information for the New York City Police Department told The Hill

Woeltz is being held without bail. 

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the victim arrived in New York City from Italy earlier this month. 

A prosecutor said others were also involved in trying to gain access to the victim’s Bitcoin. 

The victim told officials that he was bound at the wrists and drugged, shocked with electric wires, hit in the head with a firearm and dangled over a ledge at the top of stairs. The prosecutor said the victim’s injuries were consistent with what he described being bound and assaulted, and evidence was found at the townhouse upon a search of the place. 

Woeltz’s attorney, Wayne Gosnell, told AP that he had no comment. 

Woeltz’s next appearance in court is scheduled for Wednesday. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.