Real estate developer lost $2.9M to Ontario 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski

Investor Sacha Amar Singh put $3.6M into Pleterski's crypto scheme but recovered only $700K. Pleterski, 27, faces fraud and money laundering charges.

Real estate developer handed $3.6M to 'Crypto King' — got back just $700,000

A real estate developer who invested $3.6 million with Aiden Pleterski, the self-styled Ontario "Crypto King" now on trial for fraud and money laundering, managed to recover only $700,000 of his funds, Toronto Sun Crime reports.

Sacha Amar Singh, who testified virtually from a location 12 hours ahead of the courtroom, told the jury he first encountered Pleterski at a Pickering restaurant in April 2021, introduced through his friend Akil "A.K." Heywood. "He was being touted as the next big thing," Singh said. "I thought he was a sharp kid and could be one of those unicorns."

Singh acknowledged the investment was high risk and started cautiously, putting in just $10,000. Over time, however, he handed over a total of $3.6 million to the Oshawa-based Pleterski, whom he saved as "Aiden Banker" in their text exchanges — conversations in which Pleterski regularly reported high weekly returns.

Withdrawals stalled, suspicions grew

In November 2021, Singh withdrew $1 million in gains, with Pleterski keeping an agreed 30% cut. One month later, Pleterski sent a mass message to all his investors apologizing for "a little bit of a backup with funds coming out, especially cash."

By spring 2022, Singh was pressing for answers. His concerns deepened when Pleterski claimed that his Belize-based trading platform, FXChoice, had frozen investor funds. Singh secretly recorded a confrontation with Pleterski in May 2022. "Like that $700,000 you gave me, did that come from FXChoice? Or did that come from other investors that gave you money and you just gave it to me?" he asked.

Pleterski replied that the platform had stopped paying out since February and that he had since been "paying people out of my own pocket."

Screenshot showed $300 million — later found to be fake

Singh demanded proof that funds actually existed. Pleterski agreed to send his associate Mitchell Learning to show Singh a live screenshot of a trading account balance exceeding $300 million. Learning, who had also invested with Pleterski, testified separately that he had previously been shown a video displaying an account balance of $311 million — but when he logged into Pleterski's computer in June 2022, the account had been deleted.

"You did me so f–ing dirty," Learning said in a phone recording played for the jury. "Like, I just tried to help you so much, and you just f—ed me. You lied to me. You got me to show fake f—ing s–t to people, put my neck out for you."

After Singh was shown the balance by Learning, Pleterski told him the trading platform and its accounting were "all smoke and mirrors." Singh struggled to process what he was hearing. "I think I saw 300-and-something million, Mitch just showed me," he said in the recording. "But they are treating it as a 'demo account,' and it is not real money? Is that what you are trying to say?"

Pleterski confirmed no further withdrawals would be possible from the platform, then framed himself as the aggrieved party. "I've been paying people out of pocket for months and months and months," he told Singh. "And I can't afford to keep doing that. Because if I do keep doing that, I'm going to end up bankrupt."

Trial hears from multiple defrauded investors

Pleterski, 27, has pleaded not guilty to fraud over $5,000 and money laundering. His jury trial at Ontario Superior Court has heard from numerous investors who allege the self-promoted guru — known for projecting an online image of private jet travel and a collection of luxury sports cars — ran a short-lived Ponzi scheme that cost them millions.

Crown attorney Scott Patterson put questions to Singh that he has also directed at other investors throughout the trial. He asked whether Singh would have continued investing had he known his money was being used for purposes other than trading, and whether he would have kept putting money in had he known the $700,000 he received back was simply drawn from funds he himself had already given to Pleterski.

Superior Court Justice Shaun Nakatsuru asked Pleterski, who is self-represented, whether he wished to cross-examine his former client. "I don't have the legal knowledge to challenge the inconsistencies in his testimony, Your Honour," Pleterski replied.

Source: Toronto Sun Crime