When cryptocurrencies became the hype of technology, following the introduction of Bitcoin, the world began to see an alternative to fiat.
Some even started considering the technology to be a possible replacement for gold, and a future where wealth can be amassed based on hype and the market trend, untouched by any government or financial institutions.
Some early investors and adopters have shown great successes, and a number of proficient individuals have also showed that they too can be instant millionaires.
But just like anything else in the finance world, the world of cryptocurrencies is full of scammers.
And among the many scammers who managed to scam victims and earned a lot of money from their victims, was Aiden Pleterski, a self-proclaimed "Crypto King" from Canada.
Read: The 'Crypto King' Of Canada Allegedly Scam Investors After Failing To Pay $35 Million
Investors who invested money on Pleterski said that at least $35 million were given to Pleterski's company, AP Private Equity Limited. But the money they hoped would make them rich, was apparently missing.
Investors retaliated, and some went to great length to extract what they've lost, by torturing the young man.
Pleterski claimed that he lost all of the money given to him around late 2021, and also in early 2022, during a series of "margin calls and bad trades," documents revealed.
But when the bankruptcy trustee asked for evidence of these bad trades in addition to bank statements. Pleterski has failed to do so.
And when Pleterski was asked why he continued investing investors' money when he knew that he couldn't repay the investors, he said that "he was a 20 something year old kid," and that he did not have "any accounting advice."
Pleterski also reportedly said that he was "very unorganized."
In short, according to Pleterski, things happened very quickly, and that he didn't keep track of all his finances. He was also careless when considering debt and payments.
Because of this, some of Pleterski's disgruntled investors took the matter into their own hands, and allegedly kidnapped and tortured Pleterski.
With only $1.6 million has been recovered so far, the investors are furious after knowing how the young man defrauded them out of their hard-earned millions of dollars in order to fund the lavish lifestyle Pleterski advertised online.
Reportedly, Pleterski only invested under 2% of the funds, and use the rest to fund his lavish lifestyle, including high-end cars, flying on private jets, luxurious vacations, and purchasing expensive goods.
Because of this, Pleterski was allegedly abducted in the early hours of the morning in December 2022.
This was reported by Pleterski’s father, Adam Peters, in a government report.
Peters said that he received a call, allegedly from the kidnappers, who demanded $3 million CAD in ransom in exchange for the return of his son.
It's said that not only Pleterski was kidnapped, because he was also allegedly driven around Ontario and brutally abused.
"He was taken. They basically held him for approximately three days, drove him around different, various parts of southern Ontario, beat him, tortured him, allowed him to make specific phone calls to specific people only,” Peters told a courtroom. “I was not one of those people that he was allowed to contact."
According to reports, he was permitted to contact his landlord, who claimed during testimony in court that the victim was pleading with him for the millions of dollars in ransom payments.
"I received multiple calls from Aiden, but it was late at night," the landlord reportedly said, "and then at around 1:30 a.m., I finally had enough, and I picked up the call."
The landlord recounted how Pleterski said there was no one else he could call, to which he responded: “There’s absolutely nothing I can do.”
After a few days, Pleterski was reportedly freed with a warning to pay up or face the consequences.
The Toronto police have not disclosed any information about the potential kidnapper or arrest, and no suspects have initially been named.
Pleterski’s parents said they believed their son was operating a successful investment business, court documents showed.
"I knew when he was in high school, he was playing games upstairs on his computer just like any other teenager," Pleterski’s father said.
"But at some point, you became aware that he was trading in cryptocurrency?" the trustee’s lawyer asked.
"At some point, yes," Pleterski’s father replied.
According to calculations, Pleterski’s parents allegedly benefited more than $1.1 million from their son’s Ponzi scheme.
