According to authorities, the detectives may have worked as private security guards for two cryptocurrency investors who abducted 30-year-old Italian national Michael Valentino Tauferasto Cratorne. Cratorne was held captive for nearly three weeks in a luxury apartment in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood, where he was subjected to horrific abuse including electric shocks, saw-inflicted wounds to his legs, and forced drug intake.

On May 23, believing he was about to be executed, Cratorne gave his captors the password to his Bitcoin wallet, which was stored on a laptop in another room. In a moment of desperation and opportunity, he managed to flee the apartment barefoot and bleeding, eventually finding a traffic officer and pleading for help.

The two alleged kidnappers—William Duplessy, 33, and John Waltz, 37—have been charged with kidnapping and torture. They are scheduled to stand trial on June 11. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has formally indicted them on multiple charges.

The involvement of NYPD personnel has added a deeply troubling dimension to the case. Detective Roberto Cordero, who served on Mayor Adams’ security detail for years, is suspected of picking up the victim from the airport on May 6 and delivering him to the apartment where he was held. Another detective, Raymond J. Lowe, a narcotics investigator in Manhattan, is also under investigation. It remains unclear whether either officer was present during the torture sessions.

While NYPD officers are permitted to take on private security work during off-hours, department rules require prior approval—something these detectives reportedly did not obtain. “It seems they bypassed the process entirely, likely for financial gain,” said Michael Alcazar, a retired NYPD detective and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “If you work an unauthorized side job, you risk suspension or even termination. But in cases like this, the lure of fast money can override common sense.”

Both officers have been reassigned to administrative duties while the investigation proceeds.

Mayor Adams, who recently spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in Las Vegas, addressed the issue by emphasizing that NYPD intelligence handles staffing for his protection detail. “I have security personnel, and we don’t monitor their private lives,” Adams said. “This has no bearing on their professional ability to keep me safe while I move through the city.” He added that the allegations are being taken seriously and fully investigated.

The case has rocked both the NYPD and City Hall, raising serious concerns about oversight, off-duty conduct, and the blurred lines between law enforcement and private interests in the high-stakes world of digital currency.