New York police officers suspended after brutal kidnapping linked to cryptocurrency

• • NY Police Investigated Over Crypto Crime
  • Crypto trader tortured in attempted digital theft
  • SoHo kidnapping exposes risks in digital assets

Two New York Police Department officers have been removed from their duties after being linked to a shocking cryptocurrency kidnapping and torture case in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The incident targeted Italian investor Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, who was detained and beaten for three weeks in an attempt to extort his digital assets.

NYC crypto kidnapping suspect to appear for court hearing @Christinafantv reports. https://t.co/0GmOHQiwKU

— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) May 30, 2025

Second According to The New York Times, police officer Roberto Cordero acted as a driver for the criminals, personally picking up the victim at the airport on May 6. Carturan was driven to a luxury home on Prince Street, where he was held captive and subjected to a series of physical and psychological abuses.

The torture methods included the use of weapons, electric shocks, forced drugging and even threats with chainsaws. The attackers demanded the seed phrase for the victim's cryptocurrency wallet, whose fortune in digital assets was estimated at around US$30 million.

Cordero is part of the NYPD's Executive Protection Unit, a team responsible for protecting officials such as the city's mayor. The second officer under investigation, Raymond J. Low, is said to have financial ties to the perpetrators of the crime, serving as private security for John Woeltz and William Duplessie — who are believed to be the main perpetrators of the crime.

Court reports describe scenes of extreme violence during the kidnapping period, which ended only on May 22, when Carturan managed to escape. In his own words, that would be the date set by his kidnappers for his execution.

Woeltz was arrested and denied bail of $2 million. Duplessie, a Swiss national and co-founder of the Pangea Blockchain Fund, turned himself in to authorities days later and remains in custody.

In a statement, the City of New York said: “All City employees, including our police officers, are expected to uphold the law, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations and, as soon as we became aware of them, the officers were placed on modified duty.”