Court documents filed earlier this month claim that Aiden Pleterski, accused of running a crypto investment scheme, was taken from downtown Toronto and driven around southern Ontario for about three days by his captors. Pleterski was beaten and tortured, and allowed to make only specific phone calls to certain individuals. His father was not one of them.
The court papers reveal that Pleterski contacted his landlord and asked for $3 million while held captive. Unfortunately, his landlord could not help him, stating that “there’s absolutely nothing that I can do”. Eventually, Pleterski was released by the kidnappers near his landlord’s residence on the condition he came up with the money fast.
The documents also shine a light on Pleterski’s crypto investing business, which he used to defraud investors out of millions of dollars. He told investors he would pool their money together and invest it in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange positions. However, the court filings reveal that he invested less than 2% of the more than $40 million handed to him. He spent nearly 38%, almost $16 million, on his “personal lifestyle,” which included private jets, elaborate vacations, and purchasing exotic vehicles like a Ferrari, four Audis, three Lamborghinis, three McLarens, a Land Rover, and a BMW.
Last August, Pleterski was petitioned into bankruptcy, and since then, $25 million Canadian worth of claims has been filed in his case. A bankruptcy trustee on the case, Rob Stelzer, said that “Aiden ran a business in which he told people he would invest their money and that’s not what happened… He really didn’t do what he said he was going to do.” Stelzer expects more people to file claims against Pleterski.
In his testimony, Pleterski said he started to take losses in 2021 after the crypto markets started retracing from their all-time highs. He claimed he wanted to make investors whole, but his losses kept mounting due to bad market conditions. “I was trying to make returns that obviously weren’t feasible or weren’t necessarily possible at the time, and it just caused more losses,” he said.
The story of Aiden Pleterski is a cautionary tale for anyone considering investing in cryptocurrency. It highlights the importance of doing thorough due diligence and understanding the risks involved in investing in a volatile and unregulated market. It also underscores the need for investors to be wary of promises of quick and easy returns, especially when dealing with unscrupulous individuals who use high-pressure sales tactics and make unrealistic claims.
