Key Takeaways
- Two NYPD officers have been placed on leave due to their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and torture of a crypto trader.
- The suspects sought the trader’s crypto wallet phrase during the three-week ordeal in Manhattan.
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Two officers from the New York Police Department have been temporarily removed from active duty while under investigation over their alleged ties to suspects in the SoHo crypto abduction case that came to light last weekend, according to The New York Times.
Police sources told The Times that one of the officers, Roberto Cordero, allegedly acted as a driver and facilitator, personally picking up the Italian victim, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, from an area airport upon his arrival in New York on May 6.
The officer then transported the man to a luxury townhouse on Prince Street in SoHo, where the victim was later held hostage, assaulted, and subjected to brutal torture involving weapons, forced drug use, and chainsaw threats.
Cordero is assigned to the NYPD’s Elite Executive Protection Unit, a division tasked with safeguarding high-ranking city officials, including the mayor of New York City.
The second officer under scrutiny, Raymond J. Low, is reportedly connected to the suspects through financial ties, having allegedly been paid to serve as private security for one or both of the primary suspects, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, according to a separate report from PIX11 News, which covers the NYC region.
The nature of those services hasn’t been fully disclosed, and it remains unclear whether the officers directly engaged with the victim. They were placed on administrative leave today after their alleged connections to suspects emerged.
“Death day” escape: Crypto investor survives three-week ordeal of torture and extortion
This has become one of the most shocking crypto-related crimes to date, due to the level of violence and prolonged abuse.
Court documents allege that Woeltz and Duplessie bound Carturan, beat him with a gun, subjected him to electric shocks, terrorized him with a chainsaw, and forced him to smoke crack cocaine.
Over the course of three weeks, the suspects subjected Carturan to repeated cycles of abuse in an effort to force him to surrender access to his cryptocurrency holdings. His net worth was estimated at approximately $30 million, according to NBC New York.
“Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,” New York City Hall stated. “We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.”
Carturan eventually escaped on May 22, the same day he said was supposed to be his “death day.”
Woeltz was arrested on serious charges following the revelation of the kidnapping, while Duplessie, a Swiss national and co-founder of Pangea Blockchain Fund, surrendered to authorities earlier this week.
Woeltz was indicted on May 29, and a judge denied his attorney’s request for release on a $2 million bond. Duplessie remains in custody and is awaiting indictment.
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