Shocking footage shows moment crypto millionaire escapes NYC home he was tortured in as arrests are made
Shocking CCTV footage has revealed the moment a crypto millionaire who said he was 'tortured' managed to escape his captors.
The video, obtained by NBC New York, shows a disheveled, shoeless, and distressed man running up to a NYPD traffic cop on Friday (May 23) to plead for help.
The 28-year-old man, identified as Italian bitcoin trader and millionaire, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, claimed he had been held captive and tortured in a New York City townhouse in Prince Street.
He alleged he was tied to a chair with electrical wire, tased while his feet were in water, threatened, pistol-whipped, had his limbs cut with a chainsaw, urinated on, forced to take drugs, and tracked with an Apple AirTag tied around his neck during the weeks-long ordeal.
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Carturan said he was a target for two businessmen who demanded his Bitcoin password while being held captive in the swanky Soho home and only managed to escape when he tricked his captor.
Law enforcement have since described the almost three-week-long incident as a mash-up of The Wolf of Wall Street meets American Psycho, reports the New York Post.
Cops have since charged Kentucky native John Woeltz with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault and weapons possession in connection with the case, the news outlet adds, where he faces 15 to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Woeltz, a crypto king himself, reportedly launched his assault on the tourist from the eight-bed $100 million pad.
Woeltz faces a litany of accusations, including threatening the victim and his family in Italy.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson further claimed he had 'carried the victim to the top flight of the stairs of the apartment in the compound and hung the victim over the ledge,' all apparently while threatening to 'kill' him if he didn't hand over his Bitcoin password.
Carturan, from Turin, Italy, who is reportedly worth $30 million, had told his family he was travelling to the US 'for a trip of tourism and language learning' but had his passport and devices confiscated by his captors when he met them.
He only managed to escape when he said he told Woeltz he would surrender his password by plugging it into his laptop.
When the accused turned his back to get the computer, Carturan made a run for it to the street and fortunately came across the traffic cop.
Meanwhile, Woeltz reportedly owns 150 acres of land in Kentucky as well as his own private jet and helicopter, according to authorities, who requested he was held without bail.
During his appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday, the 37-year-old only muttered a quiet 'yes' when Judge Eric Schumacher asked if he had a gun.
Authorities have since raided the luxurious pad, with one describing it as a 'crypto commune' with stripper poles, cases of Crista,l and polaroid pictures of the victim, bound up with a gun pointed at him and being forced to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe.
Officers believe the images were intended to be used to extort money.
Other suspicious items like night vision goggles, a firearm and ammunition in the 'torture chamber', chicken wire, and a saw were also uncovered in the raid.
Also this week on Tuesday (May 27), a Bitcoin trader, William Duplessie, surrendered himself to police for questioning after being identified as a person of interest.
Woeltz' assistant, Beatrice Folchi, was initially held on kidnapping charges but let go after the district attorney declined to prosecute, pending further investigation.
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