'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski tells jury he's innocent in closing statement at fraud trial
Prosecutor calls Pleterski 'a thief' who stole investor funds to spend on himself in closing statement
Self-described "Crypto King" Aiden Pleterski addressed the jury for the first time at his Toronto fraud trial, thanking them, in his brief closing statement Wednesday morning.
"I am the least qualified person here to give a closing statement," Pleterski said in Ontario Superior Court.
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Pleterski → tell → Court
"However, that being said, I am innocent of these charges.
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I → say → charges
That is why I pled not guilty.
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I → plead → ?
Had I not been forced to represent myself, that would have been proven.
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that → force → myself
That's all I have to say.
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I → have → ?
Pleterski represented himself at his trial, where he only cross-examined the first of 14 witnesses the Crown called and decided not to call evidence in his defence or to testify himself.
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Crown → represent → defence
When asked by Justice Shaun Nakatsuru whether he had questions for several of the witnesses, he told the court he didn't know what to ask and, in one case, said that he needed a lawyer.
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he → ask → lawyer
The 27-year-old is accused of fraud over $5,000.
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old → accuse → 5,000
At the end of the Crown's case, they dropped a second charge of money laundering against Pleterski.
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they → drop → Pleterski
He was charged after a lengthy police investigation in May 2024.
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He → charge → May
'Crypto King' trial hears recording of Aiden Pleterski admitting $300M fund 'never existed'
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fund → hear → recording
'Crypto King' spent $16.3M of investor funds on cars, credit cards, jets, security, accountant testifies
Pleterski was no 'Crypto King': Crown
Before Pleterski addressed the court, Crown prosecutor Akshay Aurora gave his roughly 90-minute closing statement.
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Aurora → spend → statement
As it turns out he was no king at all.
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he → turn → ?
A thief who stole investor money and used it as he pleased.
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he → steal → it
A thief who stole investor money using calculated lies
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who → steal → lies
," Aurora told the jury.
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Aurora → tell → jury
"As you've seen, he burned through that money … he lived his best life, all while his investors pleaded for updates on their money, only to be ignored."
Crown prosecutor Akshay Aurora, seen in this courtroom sketch, delivered a roughly 90-minute closing statement at Pleterski's fraud trial on Wednesday.
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Aurora → see → Wednesday
Aurora provided an overview of the Crown's evidence in his closing statement, emphasizing that none of the investors' funds went into the trading platform, FXChoice, on their investment contracts.
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none → provide → contracts
Instead, the prosecutor said Pleterski used it to pay back other investors, buy cars, fly on private jets and rack up credit card bills.
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Pleterski → say → bills
"The truth, members of the jury, are in the numbers, and the numbers do not lie," Aurora said.
"
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Aurora → lie → numbers
The numbers tell us Mr. Pleterski used investor money as if it was his own to fund his lavish lifestyle."
Earlier in Pleterski's trial, a senior forensic accountant who reviewed his financial records testified that investors provided Pleterski with more than $36.3 million and none of those funds were ever sent to FXChoice.
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none → tell → FXChoice
Instead, Albert Ciorma from the Ontario Securities Commission said his forensic audit found Pleterski spent about $5.6 million on luxury vehicles, $4.9 million on credit card bills, $870,000 on travel and private jets and $598,000 on security.
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Pleterski → say → security
Pleterski also gave nearly $3.7 million to his parents and took $609,000 in cash advances from a credit card, Ciorma said.
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Ciorma → give → card
Altogether, those expenses total more than $16.3 million.
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expenses → total → million
Pleterski also paid out another $16.1 million to investors from the funds he received, according to Ciorma.
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he → pay → Ciorma
Investor paid back own money
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Investor → pay → money
In his closing, Aurora walked jurors through some of the financial summaries Ciorma created of Pleterski's accounts as they related to about half of the dozen investors who testified at trial.
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who → walk → trial
'Crypto King' tells court he fears he might soon end up in jail cell with his kidnappers
Real estate developer testifies he gave 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski $4.5M to invest
In one case, the Crown showed how investor and witness Sacha Singh provided Pleterski with $1.3 million to invest, how that money made up almost all the funds in the account and that Singh was later paid back $700,000 of his own money from the same account.
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Singh → tell → account
Sacha Singh testified remotely by Zoom at Pleterski fraud trial on Oct. 14.
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Singh → testify → Oct.
The prosecutor's examples also showed hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor funds being deposited in Pleterski's various accounts, only to be quickly withdrawn to pay other investors, credit card bills and go toward cars and a luxury home.
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thousands → show → cars
"None of the money went to MyFXChoice.
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None → go → MyFXChoice
You've seen it.
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You → see → it
Each time, Mr. Pleterski just uses the money as if it was his own," said Aurora in reference to these accounts.
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Aurora → use → accounts
The Crown's closing also highlighted details on Pleterski's limited trading in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange over the course of the alleged fraud between July 2020 and July 2022.
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closing → highlight → July
"Every single investment account of Mr. Pleterski's is a failure and only generates losses," said Aurora.
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Aurora → generate → losses
"$4,000 is all that comes into his account from any form of cryptocurrency or foreign exchange source.
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that → come → cryptocurrency
'Crypto King' investor recounts the moment he learned $311M investment fund didn't exist
'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski spent investors' money on exotic cars, private jet flights: Crown
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Pleterski → recount → cars
Over the course of the trial, the jury heard about a purported $311 million fund in a FXChoice account — and how Pleterski provided screenshots and a video of it to concerned investors worried about their money in the spring of 2022.
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Pleterski → hear → 2022
Earlier this month, the jury in Pleterski's trial was shown this photo of Mitchell Learning holding his own phone with a screenshot the investor testified Pleterski sent him of Pleterski's trading account with a balance of more than $311 million.
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Pleterski → show → million
It came up in the testimony of several witnesses, alongside the screenshots and videos. Including one of Pleterski's email account, showing the FXChoice account where the money was supposed to be, had been deleted.
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money → come → account
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
