A Toronto jury convicted Aiden Pleterski, the 27-year-old who marketed himself as a "Crypto King," of fraud on Thursday, according to the BBC. The panel reached its decision after only a few hours of deliberation, finding him guilty of a single count of fraud exceeding C$5,000 ($3,600; £2,900).
Prosecutors told the court that Pleterski took millions of dollars from people who believed they were investing in cryptocurrency and diverted much of it toward private air travel, expensive cars and other personal spending. He had entered a not-guilty plea and acted as his own lawyer during the Ontario Superior Court trial.
Why it matters
The verdict closes a case that Durham Regional Police once described as potentially the largest fraud in the region's history. When the charges were announced in May 2024, Chief Peter Moreira framed the matter in those terms, the BBC reports. The outcome also illustrates how quickly money gathered for crypto investment can move into ordinary luxury consumption, and how difficult it can be for investors to recover funds once a scheme collapses.
The conviction followed a 16-month joint investigation by Durham Regional Police and the Ontario Securities Commission. Pleterski was charged in May 2024 with one count of fraud and one count of money laundering; the jury's guilty finding on Thursday applied to the fraud charge.
What the jury heard
Crown prosecutors built their case with more than a dozen witnesses, including investors who lost money and accountants and financial experts who described how the operation worked, according to the BBC. Pleterski called no evidence of his own, did not take the stand, and cross-examined just one witness.
Much of the testimony concerned where the money went. Prosecutors said investors are believed to have handed over more than C$36 million, roughly half of which was spent. Funds sent to his firm, AP Private Equity Limited, paid for repeated private jet trips and about C$5.6 million in luxury vehicles, the court was told. Prosecutors also said he ran up C$4.9 million in credit card charges and paid C$45,000 a month for a lakefront home in Burlington, Ontario.
Earlier bankruptcy proceedings surfaced further purchases, including a McLaren and a BMW bought for his parents, who had themselves given him C$50,000 to invest in crypto, along with a Louis Vuitton bag, a Burberry coat and a 2017 Bentley Bentayga.
In closing arguments on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Akshay Aurora rejected the nickname Pleterski had adopted. He told the jury that Pleterski was not a crypto king but a thief who took investors' money and used it however he wished, CBC News reported.
A case with a violent chapter
The trial also revisited an episode from December 2022, when Pleterski was abducted overnight in downtown Toronto and held by captors who demanded a large payment for his freedom. He was freed after three days, having been subjected to torture that included waterboarding, cigarette burns and beatings with golf clubs.
In a video later obtained by CBC News, a bruised and bloodied Pleterski offered an apology, saying he had not intended to ruin anyone's life.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled, and the money-laundering count remains part of the case file. Watch for the court to set a sentencing date and for any proceedings aimed at tracing or recovering investor funds.
