Ontario’s self-proclaimed Crypto King kidnapped, held for ransom, bankruptcy documents claim
An alleged kidnapping, defrauding investors and losses of more than $40 million – those are some of the latest details to emerge as authorities try to uncover what Canada’s self-proclaimed Crypto King did with the money investors gave him.
According to allegations detailed in a new trustee’s report from the bankruptcy proceedings against Aiden Pleterski, while authorities were trying to track down millions of dollars given to him to invest, the 24-year-old was allegedly kidnapped in the middle of the night last December. . The manager believed that much of it went to a lavish lifestyle, and that very little of it was actually invested.
Pleterski’s father told the executor that Pleterski was driven around southern Ontario, beaten and tortured. Pleterski’s landlord said he received a call asking for a $3 million ransom.
Pleterski was released after a few days, the documents say, but was told he had to come up with the money soon.
CBC Toronto reached out to Pleterski’s lawyer for comment on the latest allegations, but has not heard back.
SEE | CBC’s Angelina King reports on the latest developments on Ontario’s so-called Crypto King:
Lawyer Norman Groot has been hired by some investors to recover money from Pleterski through civil claims. He says the figure of $41.5 million may only be the tip of the iceberg.
Groot says the figure does not include cash or cryptocurrency that Pleterski received or transferred, adding that actual losses could be nearly double that amount.
Private jets, luxury cars, vacations
The Trustee report reveals that Pleterski took in $41.5 million from investors and told them he was investing it in cryptocurrency and foreign currency. But the report says he invested less than two percent of that — just $670,000.
And it says Pleterski spent 38 percent, or about $16 million, of the money on himself, chartering private jets, going on vacations and adding luxury cars to his collection.
Needing a place to store everything, the report says Pleterski used investor money to put down a $500,000 deposit to buy a warehouse in Ajax.
It also says Pleterski spent over $1 million in investor money to live in a Burlington mansion, paying $45,000 per month in rent and putting down a deposit to buy it.
The report adds that Colin Murphy, an alleged associate of Pleterski’s, got $1.3 million out of the scheme. CBC Toronto reached out to Murphy’s lawyer for comment, but did not receive a response.
Murphy previously told CBC Toronto that he is innocent.
“I guess you could say greed got the better of me”
Meanwhile, Groot characterizes Pleterski’s operation as a Ponzi scheme.
Pleterski, for his part, told the trustee that when cryptocurrency fell in the fall of 2021, he lost investments but tried to get people’s money back.
“In doing that, I guess you could say greed took over and I took very aggressive positions and I tried to make returns that obviously weren’t possible or weren’t necessarily possible at the time and that just led to more loss,” he said.
Investors have come forward trying to raise $25 million, but bank records alleged Pleterski took in more than $41 million.
In other words, there are other investors out there who lost $16 million and apparently have kept quiet about how they plan to get their money back.
