Private Security, Cocaine: How Crypto Kingpins Controlled New York City Nightlife

John Woeltz and William Duplessie, the two men arrested for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting Italian tourist Michael Valentino. Teofrasto Carturan once brought a freezer bag full of cocaine and hired four private security guards to keep everything under control at New York's high-end clubs.

Mr Woeltz and Mr Duplessie hung Mr Carturan off a roof ledge, shocked him with electrical wires and attacked him with a chainsaw to force him to reveal the password of his Bitcoin wallet, reportedly valued at $30 million.

Before they were arrested and charged with kidnapping with intent to collect ransom, assault, and unlawful imprisonment, the two men used Charlie Zakkour, a former club promoter, to get into exclusive clubs, said two women who partied with them.

One of the women claimed that Mr Zakkour reached out to her, saying he knew some wealthy crypto people staying at the Mercer Hotel who wanted to spend $30,000 at a popular lounge called Paul's Baby Grand, according to The NY Post.

Describing the scene, she said Mr William poured the entire bag full of cocaine onto a metal tray and casually walked away.

She mentioned it was crazy because the amount of cocaine was worth the cost of her college tuition fee or even more. 

Another woman told The NY Post that she met these crypto traders in April at Mr Woeltz's rented townhouse in Soho after she was invited by an organiser from The Box club. These promoters pulled her, along with other girls, into a big van and took them to the exclusive party, she said.

There was security everywhere, and a girl was checking coats at the entrance. She claimed, "I've never seen anything like that. Workers were serving the food and drinks — Don Julio 1942 and Grey Goose," Ms Woeltz added.

The woman said she left the party after about an hour because she felt they were rude and didn't bother to have a conversation. "There was no politeness, there was no small talk. I felt like a piece of meat," she alleged.

One of the sources told The NY Post that she stopped hanging out with them because she found them suspicious, but by then, the two had already gained access to popular clubs like Nebula, Hearsay and The Box. She mentioned, "I cut them off. Just because the vibes were off. It felt shady."

They added, "I really regretted putting them onto the people and the places I know after I couldn't escape them anywhere."