|
|
Self-proclaimed “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski appeared badly bruised in a video showing him apologizing to his investors. He posted pictures of a lavish lifestyle on his social media accounts, shown right in a photo included in his bankruptcy files.By Ed Tubb photo
A Whitby man who dubbed himself the "Crypto King" has been charged after he allegedly swindled millions from victims across the province in a modern-day "Ponzi" scheme.
A Durham police investigation has led to charges for 25-year-old Aiden Pleterski.
A former Whitby high school student, Pleterski allegedly duped investors into handing over millions in exchange for promises of windfalls. That cash was then allegedly used by Pleterski to fund an “extravagant” lifestyle that included the purchase of exotic vehicles, renting private jets, elaborate vacations and other high-end items.
‘Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski charged with fraud, laundering by Durham Police — TORONTO STARDescribed as an “investment prodigy” who could supposedly turn thousands of dollars into millions, Pleterski was portrayed as a revolutionary 20-something day trader in 2021 and early 2022 by investment websites. In an interview with the Toronto Star, Pleterski said that after graduating high school he went on to study cybersecurity at Fanshawe College in London, Ont. He had no other formal education but learned about cryptocurrencies and financial markets using Google and watching YouTube.
Pleterski began investing when he was in his teens, using money earned from birthdays and as a part-time baseball umpire to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrency, then using the profits to rent exotic cars. By 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and while collecting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, Pleterski began investing money given to him by family and friends, according to a Toronto Star investigation. Word spread he was good at it, especially as he took to posting photos on social media accounts apparently boasting of a jet-setting life, just as he’d seen other crypto and real estate tycoons do.
In a May 2023 court filing — reported by the Toronto Star — bankruptcy trustees allege that only 1.6 per cent of the $41.5 million in investor funds received by Pleterski appears to have ever been invested.
“It appears that Pleterski had no intention to invest the investors’ money as he agreed to do in the investor agreements,” the trustee document states. The trustees allege that over a two-and-a-half-year period, Pleterski spent $15.9 million, or 38 per cent of the money he raised, to fund what the trustees called an “extravagant” lifestyle, which included signing a lease-to-own agreement on an $8.4-million home in Burlington.
Also joining the get-rich-quick scheme was Ajax real estate investor Sacha Amar Dario Singh, who was impressed enough to invest $4.5 million into bank accounts registered to Pleterski in 2021, according to published reports in the Toronto Star.
Initially, the bankruptcy documents say, Pleterski sent Singh weekly updates to inform him he’d earned about $23.2 million in profit on his investment; another investor, Akil Heywood, was told his $740,000 investment had ballooned to $4.3 million.
But by August 2022, Pleterski was failing to fulfil both men’s withdrawal requests and was not paying other creditors, according to bankruptcy documents. This led to litigation and Pleterski being petitioned into involuntary bankruptcy. Pleterski blamed the losses on a crash in cryptocurrency markets toward the end of 2021 — despite telling antsy investors he was still making money and they’d get paid, the trustees said.
The alleged scheme, however, began to crumble in 2022 when Singh was the first investor in Ontario to sue Pleterski. Other more irate investors, police allege, opted to take matters into their own hands and allegedly kidnapped Pleterski at gunpoint on Dec. 5, 2022 when he was lured into a vehicle by suspects. Pleterski was reportedly held for three days and assaulted before he was released in downtown Toronto. According to police, a ransom was demanded for the release of Pleterski, but investigators have not disclosed whether a ransom was paid.
Soon after, a video showing a black-eyed Pleterski circulated online. In the video, he apologizes to investors, seemingly under duress. It’s unclear when the video was made.
In July 2023, Toronto police charged four people with kidnapping Pleterski and holding him for ransom, including Heywood.
One big name caught up in Pleterski’s alleged web of lies was Canadian basketball star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While not involved with the alleged fraud scheme, the Oklahoma City Thunder player won a lawsuit against the company that sold him a Burlington luxury home, with a judge ruling to reverse the sale of the mansion the athlete claimed was unsafe.
It’s alleged that Pleterski signed a lease-to-own agreement on an $8.4-million home in Brampton, but that house was later purchased by Gilgeous-Alexander in the spring of 2023. But, within days of moving in, a stranger knocked on the door demanding to know where Pleterski was.
The couple told him to leave and later Googled the name, finding Pleterski had been sued for fraud and was involved in bankruptcy proceedings. They also called the police, who told them they had received reports of people trying to break in, and a contact in private security who said someone had threatened to burn down the home, according to a Toronto Star article about the decision.
Unsettled, the NBA player and his partner moved out of their “dream house” shortly after and never returned.
Durham police began their investigation in July 2022 after receiving “numerous” complaints about an alleged investment fraud involving a Whitby man.
During this investigation, police also became aware of another individual associated with Pleterski who also claimed to be generating large weekly profits through savvy investments, said the Durham force. Victims provided money to him under similar circumstances, with the expectation that he was investing it on their behalf and would be returning them large profits, said police. These victims were ultimately defrauded as well, and unable to recover their funds, said police.
Pleterski has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and launder proceeds of crime.
An Oshawa man, 27, has also been charged with fraud over $5,000.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of this alleged fraud is asked to call Det. Jaciuk at 905-579-1520, ext. 5353, or the Ontario Security Commissions at 1-877-785-1555.
— With files from the Toronto Star
来源链接：
https://www.toronto.com/news/crime/crypto-king-whitby-man-who-allegedly-swindled-millions-from-investors-in-modern-day-ponzi-scheme/article_591ec54b-2c56-5595-aa48-983553601f29.html
|
|
