The self-described 23-year-old “crypto king” is facing a slew of demands among his 140 investors as they try to win back a total of $35 million from his AP Private Equity Limited.
According to a CBC report on Tuesday, creditors are working hard trying to uncover where all the money they allegedly gave Canadian Aiden Pleterski to make investments in crypto and forex on their behalf ended up.
The bankruptcy trustee’s report, creditors’ meeting minutes, court filings and complaints to Investigation Couns (PC), revealed that Pleterski owned 11 vehicles, rented four other luxury cars, flew regularly on private planes and was living in a lakefront mansion that cost 45,000 to rent. dollars a month.
So far, nearly $2 million in assets have been confiscated, including two McLarens, two BMWs and a Lamborghini.
Norman Grote, founder of Investigation Counsel PC – a fraud recovery law firm – claimed that the “large lifestyle burn rate” still “does not explain the amount of money lost”.
An initial lawsuit filed against Peltersky resulted in the freezing of his assets and bank accounts, but this has now been overturned by bankruptcy proceedings. At this point, it is the only redemption process for investors because bankruptcy proceedings take precedence over civil lawsuits.
“The only avenue for investors is to file reports with the Ontario Securities Commission and the police,” Groot said.
“These processes are lengthy, the more time passes, the less likely the evidence will be recovered and the less likely the money will be recovered,” he said.
Groot said the warning signs for investors of very high returns were there for all to see, saying:
“Five percent interest [a week] is not available on the open market. The 23-year-old is unlikely to be the next Bill Gates — talk to someone conservative and get a second opinion.”
Creditor Diane Moore invested $60,000 and said her investment contract gave her the lion’s share of 70 to 30 divided by any capital gains, which she was targeting 10 to 20 percent every two weeks.
“The whole thing was based on trust,” she said, claiming $50,000 was out of her pocket.
Plitersky’s attorney, Michael Seaman, has questioned the allegations and said his client is fully cooperating with the bankruptcy process.
According to Seaman, his client started investing in cryptocurrency as a teenager. His success during bull markets prompted others to freely offer cash for investments in the hope of getting rich.
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“Shockingly, no one seems to bother thinking about what will happen if the crypto market goes down or whether Aiden, who is very young, is qualified to take on these types of investments.”
Plitersky claimed that his investment firm ran into trouble thanks to a “series of margin calls and bad deals,” which may have been exacerbated by the market crash and the ongoing crypto winter.
He said that all the money that investors faced in late 2021 and early 2022 was wasted.
The trustee indicated that they still needed to obtain evidence supporting the deals after asking for proof of transactions and bank statements.
