Two Ontario men, one of whom is a self-described “Crypto King,” have been arrested and charged with fraud. They allegedly received over C$40m ($29.4m) from investors.
Aiden Pleterski, 25, was charged with fraud exceeding C$5,000 and laundering criminal proceeds on May 2. His associate, Colin Murphy, 27, also faced fraud charges but was released on an undertaking, according to a police statement.
Durham police launched an investigation in July 2022 after a surge of complaints regarding investment fraud by a Whitby man. The probe revealed an accomplice who also promised high weekly returns through investments.
“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,” the police said. “These victims were ultimately defrauded as well, and unable to recover their funds.”
Police will hold a news conference on Thursday to reveal more details.
Investors Left High and Dry After “Crypto King’s” Millions Vanish
For over a year and a half, Pleterski’s investors have been searching for more than C$40m they invested with him in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange, according to CBC News. A Toronto bankruptcy process underway in Ontario Superior Court has so far recovered around $3m for about 160 investors.
Further, an insolvency trustee’s investigation revealed that Pleterski diverted $16m for personal use alone. This included renting private jets, luxury vacations, car purchases, and a lakefront mansion lease. Shockingly, he invested only about 2% of the funds entrusted to him.
At that time Pleterski portrayed himself as a professional streamer online. In one instance, he responded to a viewer’s comment calling him “jobless” with the phrase “internet money gang, internet money” during a live broadcast.
Crypto Conman’s Kidnapping
Last year, kidnappers allegedly abducted Pleterski from downtown Toronto and held him captive for three days, subjecting him to torture and demanding a multi-million dollar ransom. They reportedly drove him around southern Ontario before releasing him.
Cracking down on Pleterski’s operation, a judge in Ontario issued an arrest warrant in December for Ryan Rumble, another associate who allegedly helped him run his multi-year, multi-million dollar crypto investment scam.
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