Suspect William Duplessie appears in court in Crypto torture case in Lower Manhattan
SOHO, New York City (WABC) — One of the suspects in the SoHo crypto torture case appeared in court on Friday as we learn more details about two NYPD detectives now under investigation in connection to the case.
William Duplessie was arraigned earlier this week after turning himself in on charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment.
The 32-year-old is the second crypto investor arrested in the case, with the other being 37-year-old John Woeltz.
Both surrendered to police in the alleged torture of an Italian businessman inside Woeltz’s Manhattan apartment. They’re accused of beating the victim, plying him with drugs and more demanding access to his crypto passwords.
Also under investigation are two NYPD detectives who reportedly provided private security for one of the suspects.
Sources say one of the off-duty detectives, who works as part of the mayor’s advanced security team, actually drove the victim from the airport to his townhouse on Prince Street earlier this month.
The Internal Affairs investigation is underway into how long the two were employed by the suspects and whether the employment had been approved internally.
NYPD members are not permitted to work for private security without going through a strict series of approvals.
Officials said the two detectives had no knowledge of illegal or inappropriate behavior at the townhome and that the mayor also had no knowledge or connection to the two crypto suspects.
“Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty,” a statement from the mayor’s office said.
Authorities have said Woeltz and Duplessie knew the victim personally.
On May 6, they are accused of luring the man, whose name has not been released by officials, to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, one of the city’s most expensive, by threatening to kill his family.
The man said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors allegedly tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.
He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The victim made it onto the street, bloodied and shoeless, according to police.
A search of the townhouse turned up cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and Polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, according to prosecutors.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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