23-YEAR-OLD Aiden Pleterski, who calls himself the ‘Crypto King’, has had $2 million worth of assets seized after being sued over allegations he defrauded investors.
The seized assets include a Lamborghini, two McLarens, and two BMWs.
Pleterski was also renting a lakefront mansion in Burlington, Ontario that he spent $45,000 a month on.
Pleterski has since had his assets and bank accounts frozen but doesn’t have a criminal charge against him. He is currently facing bankruptcy proceedings and two civil lawsuits.
Investors told CBC Toronto $35 million given to Pleterski’s company, AP Private Equity Limited, had gone missing.
Twenty-nine creditors have a bankruptcy proceeding against Pleterski, and say he owes them almost $13 million.
One 65-year-old woman told CBC Toronto she had invested $60,000 that she was keeping for her grandchildren’s education.
READ MORE ON 24/7 CRYPTO HERE
Norman Groot, founder of Investigation Counsel PC, said the bankruptcy proceeding against Pleterski, who started investing in cryptocurrency as a teenager, was one of the only ways investors could get their money back.
Pleterski’s lawyer said the claims by former investors are “wildly exaggerated.”
Pleterski’s lawyer, Micheal Simaan, said: “Shockingly, it seems that nobody bothered to consider what would happen if the cryptocurrency market plummeted or whether Aiden, as a very young man, was qualified to handle these types of investment.
“Pleterski is co-operating with the bankruptcy process and is hopeful that it will work out in the most equitable fashion for everyone involved.”
In a meeting with creditors, Pleterski reportedly told them he was “very unorganized,” and didn’t keep records of his investments.
His trustee told creditors Pleterski said he lost the money he had received between late 2021 and early 2022 “in a series of margin calls and bad trades.”
