Akil Heywood, an investor who had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Aiden Pleterski, also known as the "Crypto King", is set to stand trial this fall for allegedly orchestrating Pleterski's kidnapping in 2022. Additionally, Heywood has been charged with a dozen more offences, including attempting to dissuade another co-accused, Deren Akyeam-Pong, from giving evidence in a judicial proceeding. Court records indicate that Heywood fled the scene of a street racing crash last month, which injured four people, including an infant. The charges against Heywood have not been tested in court.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Akil Heywood, 42, an investor who had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Aiden Pleterski, known as the "Crypto King", has been charged with additional offences. These include attempting to dissuade a co-accused, Deren Akyeam-Pong, from giving evidence in court on November 3, 2025. This is significant because it's connected to Pleterski's 2022 kidnapping case, for which Akyeam-Pong had previously pleaded guilty to nine charges, including kidnapping and assault. Heywood was already set to stand trial this fall for allegedly orchestrating the kidnapping, but these new charges add to the allegations against him. The investigation into the kidnapping occurred on December 5, 2022, when Pleterski thought he was meeting a potential investor, but instead was held at gunpoint in a pickup truck in Toronto.
Written for “Cryptocurrency Investigation” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
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No political leaning scored for article 623 · logged 2026-08-27
Investor charged with kidnapping 'Crypto King' accused of meddling in co-accused's case
Akil Heywood set to stand trial for Aiden Pleterski's 2022 kidnapping this November
One of self-proclaimed "Crypto King" Aiden Pleterski's investors, who's set to stand trial this fall for allegedly orchestrating his kidnapping, has been charged with a dozen more offences, including for allegedly meddling in a co-accused's case.
uncertain
who → charge → case
Akil Heywood, 42, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Pleterski and was charged last month with attempting to dissuade Deren Akyeam-Pong — who pleaded guilty in the kidnapping — from giving evidence in a judicial proceeding on Nov. 3, 2025, according to court records.
uncertain
who → invest → records
That is the same day an Ontario Superior Court judge lifted a temporary publication ban on the agreed statement of facts tied to Akyeam-Pong's guilty plea for Pleterski's 2022 kidnapping.
asserted
judge → lift → kidnapping
Akyeam-Pong pleaded guilty to nine charges in the case, including kidnapping, assault and various gun charges in October 2025.
asserted
Pong → plead → October
Through his lawyer, Akyeam-Pong declined to comment on the new charge against Heywood.
asserted
Pong → decline → Heywood
Some of Heywood's other recent charges concern him allegedly fleeing the scene of a street racing crash in Scarborough last month, which injured four people, including an infant.
uncertain
which → concern → infant
Toronto police say Heywood was in a green Lamborghini SUV racing a Mercedes when the Mercedes lost control and hit a truck.
asserted
Mercedes → say → truck
Heywood was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to stop at the scene of a crash and stunt racing.
asserted
Heywood → charge → crash
He was arrested for Pleterski's kidnapping in July 2023 and released on bail.
asserted
He → arrest → bail
None of the charges against Heywood have been tested in court.
asserted
None → test → court
His trial for the kidnapping and attempted extortion of Pleterski is scheduled for November alongside two other accused.
asserted
trial → attempt → accused
Heywood's lawyer, Domenic Basile, did not respond to requests for comment.
asserted
lawyer → respond → comment
Heywood previously told CBC News he's innocent in connection to the kidnapping.
asserted
he → tell → kidnapping
'Crypto King' tortured during kidnapping: court records
Pleterski thought he was meeting with a potential investor on Dec. 5, 2022, when a gun was pressed into his ribs in the backseat of a pickup truck in Toronto.
asserted
gun → torture → Toronto
The abduction, allegedly orchestrated by Heywood, was the beginning of a three-day-long kidnapping during which Pleterski was threatened at gunpoint and tortured, according to the agreed statement of facts in Akyeam-Pong's case.
uncertain
Pleterski → orchestrate → case
The torture included waterboarding, cigarette burns and being beaten with golf clubs as his captors drove him between several locations in southern Ontario before eventually releasing Pleterski in downtown Toronto.
asserted
captors → include → Toronto
CBC News has reported extensively on Pleterski since the summer of 2022, when he was forced into bankruptcy by some of his investors.
asserted
he → report → investors
At the time of his kidnapping, Pleterski was a few months into that proceeding, which was trying to recover more than $40 million given to him to invest in cryptocurrency and foreign currencies.
asserted
which → try → cryptocurrency
Only about $3 million has since been recovered for roughly 160 investors through the bankruptcy, which also determined that Pleterski spent $16 million on himself.
asserted
Pleterski → recover → himself
Heywood orchestrated the kidnapping to try to recover the money he thought he was owed, offering to pay Akyeam-Pong and two other men to carry out the kidnapping, according to the agreed statement of facts in Akyeam-Pong's case.
uncertain
he → orchestrate → case
In May 2024, Pleterski was arrested by Durham Regional Police and charged with fraud and money laundering related to the funds he took from investors.
uncertain
he → arrest → investors
Those charges have not yet been tested in court.
asserted
charges → test → court
Pleterski's trial is set for October in Toronto.
asserted
trial → set → Toronto
