The "King of Crypto" in Canada is accused of squandering $16.3 million of investors' money on luxury cars, private jets, and more
According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Aiden Pleterski, who claims to be the "King of Crypto," is on trial in the Ontario Superior Court. A senior forensic accountant from the Ontario Securities Commission testified that between 2020 and 2022, investors invested $36.3 million with him, of which he used nearly half for personal expenses. Specific expenditures included approximately $5.6 million on luxury cars, $4.9 million in credit card bills, $870,000 on travel and private jets, $598,000 on security costs, and nearly $3.7 million transferred to his parents. At the same time, he paid investors about $16.1 million as "returns."
The accountant pointed out that investor funds were never transferred to the trading platform FXChoice as promised in the contracts, with only about $113,000 flowing to other forex and cryptocurrency platforms. The prosecution alleges that he guaranteed investment returns but did not actually trade, instead using the funds for personal consumption. Pleterski denies the charges of fraud and money laundering, and the case is still ongoing.