‘Crypto King’ spent $16.3M of investor funds on cars, credit cards, jets, security, accountant testifies
Aiden Pleterski paid $16.1M to investors, but no funds went to trading platform named in contracts: accountant
Self-described "Crypto King" Aiden Pleterski spent nearly half of the $36.3 million investors gave him on himself and paid out about the same amount to investors as returns between 2020 and 2022, according to a senior forensic accountant who testified at his trial in Toronto’s Superior Court on Friday.
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who → spend → Friday
Albert Ciorma, who works for the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), told the court that none of the funds Pleterski received from investors were ever sent to FXChoice — the trading platform their contracts said he’d use on their behalf.
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he → work → behalf
And only about $113,000 was ever sent to other foreign exchange and cryptocurrency platforms.
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113,000 → send → platforms
Instead, Ciorma 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, $598,000 on security, and Pleterski gave nearly $3.7 million to his parents.
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Pleterski → say → parents
He also took $609,000 in cash advances from a credit card.
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He → take → 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.
'Crypto King' tells court he fears he might soon end up in jail cell with his kidnappers
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he → pay → kidnappers
Real estate developer testifies he gave 'Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski $4.5M to invest
The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to fraud over $5,000 and money laundering.
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old → testify → 5,000
Pleterski was charged in May 2024 after a lengthy investigation by the OSC and Durham Regional Police.
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Pleterski → charge → OSC
Albert Ciorma, a senior forensic accountant, testified about self-described 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski's bank accounts at his fraud and money laundering trial on Friday.
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Ciorma → testify → Friday
Since the start of Pleterski’s jury trial last week, the Crown has alleged that he guaranteed the money his investors gave him for trading, but never actually invested the funds, instead spending the money on himself.
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investors → allege → himself
Ciorma’s testimony on Friday was the first detailed evidence presented in court to support that aspect of the Crown’s case.
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testimony → present → case
Previously, nearly a dozen investors testified to giving Pleterski more than $6 million collectively.
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investors → testify → million
They all shared similar stories of providing Pleterski funds to trade in foreign exchange, and in some cases cryptocurrency, with weekly gains of about two to 10 per cent.
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They → share → cent
They received texts from Pleterski updating them on these returns.
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They → receive → returns
Most of them said they never got any of their money back.
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they → say → money
Millions flow in, and then out
Crown prosecutor Scott Patterson went through dozens of pages of records Ciorma compiled summarizing Pleterski’s bank accounts with the forensic accountant in court.
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Ciorma → flow → court
“We see the same pattern, money in and expenses to credit cards,” said Patterson, referencing transactions from the spring of 2021.
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Patterson → see → 2021
The records showed millions of dollars of investor money flowing in, and then flowing out of Pleterski’s bank accounts to pay for credit card bills, cars, hotels, designer clothing and jewelry.
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millions → show → bills
Other expenses include more than $84,000 for a luxury property rental in Miami in October 2021 and $95,200 to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team in April 2022.
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expenses → include → April
The jury in Aiden Pleterski's trial was shown this photo last week of Mitchell Learning holding his own phone with a screenshot he testified Pleterski sent him of Pleterski's trading account with a balance of more than $311 million.
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Pleterski → show → million
Two investors who previously testified spoke about seeing a video of Pleterski’s FXChoice account showing a balance of $311 million in the spring of 2022.
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who → testify → 2022
'Crypto King' investor recounts the moment he learned $311M investment fund didn’t exist
'Crypto King' investor who lost $890K recounts visit to Aiden Pleterski’s lakefront mansion
One of them, Mitchell Learning, later gained access to Pleterski’s email account and found an email showing the same FXChoice account had been closed.
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account → recount → email
He then testified that Pleterski confessed to him that he’d lost investor funds and then started using new money from investors to make payouts to others.
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he → testify → others
“Did you see $311 million in either of those accounts?” Patterson asked the accountant about the FXChoice accounts he reviewed.
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he → see → accounts
“No, just what we’ve seen today,” replied Ciorma.
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Ciorma → see → what
Pleterski’s trial is expected to continue Monday with further testimony from the forensic accountant.
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trial → expect → accountant
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