Police Investigate Detectives Involved at Home Linked to Crypto Torture Case

The New York Police Department is investigating two detectives who provided security at a luxurious Manhattan townhouse where two cryptocurrency investors are accused of torturing a man for three weeks, according to two city officials with knowledge of the matter.

One of the detectives, Roberto Cordero, who has also served for years on Mayor Eric Adams’s security detail, picked up the victim from the airport on May 6 and brought him back to the townhouse, where he was held captive until his escape last week, the officials said.

Detective Cordero and the other detective, Raymond J. Low, who investigates narcotics cases in Manhattan, were placed on modified duty on Wednesday, according to an internal document and the officials, who were not authorized to speak because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

It is unclear whether the detectives were employed directly or whether they had been working for a private security company. Officers are not permitted to work for security firms without Police Department approval, according to the department’s patrol guide. It was also unclear whether the men were present during the crime prosecutors say occurred there.

In a statement, the Police Department confirmed that two officers had been placed on modified duty, which generally restricts a person to desk work, and that the matter was under internal review.

Neither Detective Cordero nor any legal representatives could immediately be reached for comment. When reached by phone, Detective Low declined to comment.

A 20-year veteran, Detective Cordero has served on the Executive Protection Unit, the mayor’s security detail, since December 2021, according to records from the police and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent oversight agency.

The house where they worked is at 38 Prince Street in the NoLIta neighborhood. On May 23, an Italian man, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, escaped from the home, where he said he had been tortured for weeks.

The Manhattan district attorney has charged the two cryptocurrency investors — John Woeltz, 37, and William Duplessie, 33 — with kidnapping and torturing him. Mr. Woeltz has been indicted by a grand jury, though the indictment will remain sealed until he is arraigned on June 11, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Thursday.

When Mr. Carturan arrived at the townhouse on May 6, he was captured and held by Mr. Woeltz and a 24-year-old woman, according to prosecutors and an internal police report. They wanted the password to a Bitcoin wallet worth millions, the report said.

The woman, Beatrice Folchi, was initially charged by the police with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment, but she was released and her prosecution was deferred, a law enforcement official said.

Detective Cordero joined the Police Department in January 2005 and has served in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx and on a narcotics team in Manhattan, according to police and Complaint Board records.

He has been the subject of several complaints accusing him of abusing his authority and using physical force. In one complaint from 2014, a man accused Detective Cordero and seven other officers of beating him, strip-searching him and taking his money. The case was settled in 2016.

Detective Low joined the Police Department on the same day as Detective Cordero, according to police records.

Detective Low was elevated to his rank in 2013. He has been named in nine complaints dating back to 2008, including one that accuses him of making a false official statement and using a chokehold, according to Complaint Board records.