But so far, Aiden Pleterski’s assets fall far short of what his investors claim they’re owed. Creditors are working to uncover the whereabouts of at least $35 million granted to Pleterski and his company AP Private Equity Limited for cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investments, according to a fraud recovery lawyer and documents filed in two separate lawsuits reviewed by CBC Toronto . Diane Moore invested $60,000 she had set aside for her grandchildren’s education after meeting Pleterski through someone she had known for years. He now has $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 of any capital gains (with 70 percent going to her and 30 percent to Pleterski), a commitment that the initial investment would be repaid in full if lost, and targeted capital gains of 10 to 20 percent every two weeks, according to her investment contract. “I don’t know if he ever really traded,” Moore said. “Or was that his plan and just the story to get me with other people?” Diane Moore invested $60,000 in her grandchildren’s education with Aiden Pleterski and still has $50,000 of her investment. (Submitted by Diane Moore) The 65-year-old from Clarington, Ont., is now one of 29 creditors claiming to be owed nearly $13 million in a bankruptcy proceeding against Pleterski. In a lawsuit, another investor who claims he is out $4.5 million obtained a Mareva injunction, which effectively freezes Pleterski’s assets and bank accounts worldwide. About 140 investors who handed over a collective $20 million responded to a call 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 fraud victims.
Lakeside mansion for rent for $45,000 a month
Through a bankruptcy trustee’s report, creditor meeting minutes, court filings and complaints made to Groot’s company, a picture emerges of Pleterski’s life of luxury before things fell apart. The youngster, has been called “the king of cryptographers” in many paid advertising articleshe owned 11 vehicles, leased four other luxury cars, flew on private jets and paid $45,000 a month to rent a lakeside mansion in Burlington, Ont. “This guy had a big lifestyle burn rate, but he doesn’t account for the amount of money that’s missing,” Groot told CBC Toronto. “What’s difficult about this particular case is that Pleterski was taking a lot of cash — and how do you trace cash?” Pleterski told a meeting of creditors during his bankruptcy that he never spent more than $600,000 on a watch. (Facebook) The bankruptcy proceeding against him is the only recovery proceeding for the investors at this time because it takes precedence over the civil claims against Pleterski. Investors questioned Pleterski at length at the first meeting of creditors — which lasted more than five hours — in late August, according to minutes of the meeting. When asked why he kept investing money when he knew he couldn’t repay his current investors, Pleterski told the meeting that he “was a 20-year-old kid.” Pleterski did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Financial claims ‘wildly exaggerated’: Pleterski’s lawyer
In an email, Pleterski’s lawyer told CBC Toronto that his client disputes many of the claims against him and believes the financial claims from many people who gave him money “are grossly exaggerated.” Pleterski started investing in cryptocurrencies as a teenager and people gave him money to invest once they saw how much money he was making for himself and the people around him – but he never asked for money, according to his lawyer Micheal Simaan. “Shockingly, it seems that no one bothered to consider what would happen if the cryptocurrency market plummeted, or if Aiden, as a very young man, was qualified to handle these types of investments,” Simaan wrote. “Aiden is cooperating with the bankruptcy process and hopes it works out in the fairest way for everyone involved.” Several luxury cars like this Lamborghini were seized by Aiden Pleterski as part of the bankruptcy proceedings against him. (YouTube) At the creditors’ meeting, the administrator said Pleterski claimed he lost most of the money he was given in late 2021 and early 2022 “in a series of margin and bad trades.” But as of Aug. 29, the trustee had received nothing to back that up — despite requesting evidence of transactions and bank statements from Pleterski. When asked about his record keeping of investment funds, Pleterski told the meeting that he was very disorganized, did not track his finances and did not keep a record of his debts or payments.
I have never owned a watch worth more than $600,000
Investors also inquired about a range of potential assets, including luxury cars, watches and gold bullion. When asked if he had ever owned a Patek Philippe watch — and if he did, what happened to it — Pleterski told the meeting that he had never owned a Patek Philippe watch and that he had “never owned a watch worth more than $600,000.” CBC Toronto also reviewed the Mareva injunction that was ordered as part of a lawsuit by investors against Pleterski before the lawsuit was superseded by bankruptcy proceedings. In the ruling that handed down the decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Phillip Sutherland lays out the investor’s claim that he was provided with photos and videos of statements from a forex/cryptocurrency trading platform that showed $311 million in Pleterski’s company’s account. But when the investor checked with the trading platform independently, he was told Pleterski and his company had no accounts with such funds, according to the court order. Like Moore, the investor in the lawsuit claims the terms of the investment included a 70-30 percent split in capital gains, and if the funds were lost, the full initial investment would be repaid to the investor in biweekly installments. The goal for capital gains will be 10-20 percent growth every two weeks.
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t”
Groot, a certified fraud examiner for more than 20 years, says most of the funds given to Pleterski were provided when cryptocurrencies were on the rise in the market last year and there was a “greed factor or an excitement factor.” “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t,” he said. “Five percent interest [a week] it is not available on the open market. A 23-year-old kid is unlikely to be the next Bill Gates – talk to someone who is conservative and get a second opinion.” Aside from bankruptcy, Groot says the only other avenue available to investors would be to file reports with the Ontario Securities Commission and the police. Norman Groot, an attorney and certified fraud examiner, says the longer time passes, the less likely investors are to recover their money. (Submitted by Norman Groot) “These processes are time-consuming,” Groot said. “The more time that passes, the less likely there is to recover evidence – and the less likely there is to recover money.” The lawyer told CBC Toronto that multiple investors who have contacted his firm have reported Pleterski to police throughout the greater Toronto area. For her part, Moore says she — and the investors who heard about the opportunity from her — filed a report with Durham Regional Police. Unlike Moore, some of these investors borrowed their investment funds from a line of credit. “I feel terrible for them,” Moore said. “I wish I had never mentioned it.” If you have a story you’d like us to investigate, contact CBC Toronto’s Enterprise Unit at [email protected]
