Luxury cars seized from 23-year-old 'Crypto King' as investors try to recoup millions

Two McLarens, two BMWs and a Lamborghini make up just a few of the $2 million worth of assets seized from a 23-year-old from Whitby, Ont., as his investors try to recoup millions of dollars they handed over to the self-described "Crypto King."

But so far, Aiden Pleterski's assets fall far short of what his investors claim they're owed.

Creditors are working to unravel where at least $35 million provided to Pleterski and his company AP Private Equity Limited for cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investments ended up, according to a fraud recovery lawyer and documents filed in two separate actions reviewed by CBC Toronto. 

Diane Moore invested $60,000 she had earmarked for her grandchildren's education after meeting Pleterski through someone she'd known for years. Now she's out $50,000. 

"The whole thing was based on trust," Moore said. "What Aiden has done, I think, is awful — and I don't know how he can live with himself."

The terms of Moore's investment included a 70-30 split on any capital gains (with 70 per cent for her and 30 per cent for Pleterski), a commitment the initial investment would be paid back in full if it was lost, and target capital gains of 10 to 20 per cent biweekly, according to her investment contract. 

"I don't know if he was ever really trading," Moore said. "Or was this his plan and it was just the story to get me in along with other people?"

The 65-year-old from Clarington, Ont., is now one of 29 creditors claiming they're owed nearly $13 million in a bankruptcy proceeding against Pleterski. In a lawsuit, another investor who claims to be out $4.5 million obtained a Mareva injunction, which effectively freezes Pleterski's assets and bank accounts worldwide. 

Roughly 140 investors who handed over a collective $20 million responded to a call-out for information from a fraud recovery law firm investigating Pleterski, some of whom are involved in the bankruptcy process.

"It was a huge surprise, we've never had a response like this," said Norman Groot, founder of Investigation Counsel PC, which only represents alleged victims of fraud. 

Through a bankruptcy trustee's report, creditors meeting minutes, court filings, and complaints made to Groot's firm, a picture emerges of Pleterski's luxurious life before things fell apart. The young man, dubbed "the Crypto King" in several paid-for promotional articles, owned 11 vehicles, was leasing four other luxury cars, flew on private jets, and was paying $45,000 a month to rent a lakefront mansion in Burlington, Ont. 

"This guy had a large lifestyle burn rate, but it doesn't account for the amount of money that's missing," Groot told CBC Toronto. 

"What's difficult with this particular case is that Pleterski was taking in a lot of cash — and how do you trace cash?"

The bankruptcy proceeding against him is the only recovery process for investors right now, because it takes precedence over the civil claims against Pleterski.