According to a new CBC story, five luxurious automobiles, including two BMWs, two McLarens, and a Lamborghini, have been confiscated from 23-year-old Aiden Pleterski, the self-described "crypto king" of Canada, during bankruptcy proceedings.
But those automobiles are only worth a fraction of the $35 million Pleterski reportedly stole from investors who hoped he'd make them rich in the cryptocurrency market, and it's unclear whether they'll ever see their money back.
Pleterski and his business, AP Private Equity Limited, are facing at least two legal lawsuits after 140 people claimed to have deposited a total of $35 million with Pleterski.
Those people thought they were investing in Bitcoin, and Pleterski's online presence, which included photographs of the 23-year-old on private jets and next to fancy automobiles, contributed to the impression that he understood what he was doing.
Pleterski's YouTube channel and Instagram account have been deactivated, but it appears that he paid for stories on websites like as Forbes.mc (Monaco's top level domain) and the far-right news source Daily Caller in order to get his name connected with success in crypto investing.
A shot of Pleterski staring at his phone on what looks to be a private plane appears in a December 2021 Daily Caller story. Notably, cryptocurrencies like as bitcoin and Ethereum were trading around all-time highs in December 2021. "Aiden Pleterski: Meet the Young Canadian Investor Who Is Taking the Crypto World By Storm," the title says.
Despite a notification stating the content is from a "featured partner," many individuals are unaware that such items are purchased and paid for—a long-standing practice.
The wording of the Daily Caller story about Pleterski is absurd and plagued with grammatical problems, yet it may have been enough to persuade some individuals with no knowledge in crypto that he was a rising star who might make them wealthy.
The question is whether Pleterski ever put any of the money in crypto in the first place, which speaks to how bizarre the crypto market has been over the last year. Pleterski might have invested the money and lost it, just like so many others since the high in November 2021. Bitcoin is down 56% year on year, while Ethereum is down 57%.
Pleterski maintains he invested the money but is simply terrible at maintaining records.
According to sources who contacted with the CBC, several investors believe Pleterski didn't even bother investing the money, instead pocketing it for himself.
Diane Moore, a lady who spent $60,000 with Pleterski, told the CBC, "I don't know whether he was ever truly trading." "Or was this his intention all along, and the narrative was only to lure me in with the other people?"
According to the CBC, investors are attempting to recover their funds through bankruptcy court and two civil lawsuits, but criminal charges have not been pursued, despite the fact that some have reported their events to Toronto police.
Pleterski's lawyer did not reply quickly to a request for comment made early Wednesday. If we receive a response, we will update this story. We'd want to hear from you if you sent money to Canada's "crypto king." Did the advertorials Pleterski purchased influence your choice to give him your money?
