NEW YORK — New York City police are looking into two detectives who handled security at an affluent Manhattan townhouse where a man claims he was kidnapped and tortured for weeks by two cryptocurrency speculators who wanted to steal his Bitcoin, a city official said Thursday.
According to the official, one of the investigators is on Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail and is suspected of picking up the victim at a local airport and transporting him to the home. It’s unclear whether the other detective, a narcotics officer, had any link to the incident.
The detectives have been placed on modified leave until the result of the investigation, according to an official briefed on the issue who spoke anonymously to The Associated Press because they are not authorized to discuss the internal investigation.
It is not uncommon for NYPD officers to conduct private security work outside of their official positions, but they must first obtain approval. At this time, the person stated, the department is investigating whether the cops received that approval.
Adams’ office confirmed that one of the detectives provides protection for the Democrat, but claimed the mayor is unaware of what the cop does on his own time.
“Every city employee, including our officers, is expected to follow the law, both on and off duty,” the mayor’s office stated in an email. “We are disturbed by these allegations.”
In response to an email, an NYPD representative confirmed that two members were assigned to modified duty on Wednesday.
A representative for the labor union that represents NYPD detectives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.
John Woeltz and William Duplessie, cryptocurrency speculators, have been charged in the case. Their lawyers declined to comment.
Authorities say that on May 6, the two men lured the victim, whom they knew personally, to a beautiful home in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood by threatening to kill his family.
The victim, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been identified by officials, claims he was held captive for 17 days as the two investors tortured him with electrical cables, forced him to inhale from a crack pipe, and dangled him from a five-story stairway.
He eventually consented to hand them his computer password Friday morning, but managed to flee the house as his captors went to get the device.
The inquiry into the police began on the same day Adams headlined a cryptocurrency symposium in Las Vegas, describing New York as the country’s Bitcoin capital.