A cryptocurrency market scammer messed with the wrong people after stealing the equivalent of R$ 212 million in Canadian dollars.
23-year-old Aiden Pleterski described himself as the “king of cryptocurrencies” and was seen by many as the “new bill gates”. Aiden lived a luxurious life with a dozen sports cars, private jets and expensive vacations.
To support his lifestyle he took money from investors, promised weekly returns of 5 to 7% and used the funds raised to maintain a luxurious life in Canada.
The stolen total reaches US$40 million or the equivalent of R$212 million, only 2% of these amounts were allocated to cryptocurrency exchanges and international brokerages, which are being tracked by the Canadian police.
More than 150 people were deceived.
scammer is beaten
And one of them probably wanted to take the law into their own hands. In a 750-page document obtained by a local newspaper, it is alleged that Pleterski was kidnapped in the commercial area of Ontario, Canada.
He was kidnapped and held captive for about three days, during which time he was taken to different locations in southern Ontario, beaten, tortured, and given permission to make calls only to specific individuals.
“I received several calls from Aiden, but it was late at night… and so around 1:30am I finally had enough and took the call”, said his landlord who rented the house to the scammer in court on Feb. 9.
Pleterski said he had no one else to call, according to the affidavit. “I said, ‘There is absolutely nothing I can do.’”
The kidnappers wanted the money back and only released it with the promise that they would have the values returned quickly.
The scammer is going through bankruptcy proceedings and has nearly been arrested twice for refusing to give authorities a Rolex, an Audi and a phone.
“I have been doing this type of work for over 15 years and I have never made this type of request”, stated Rob Stelzer, Pleterski Bankruptcy Trustee and Senior Vice President of Grant Thornton Ltd, regarding the need to ask for delivery of Aiden’s assets.
Justice has already settled with the family of the scammer, who would have received 1.1 million in benefits from the robbery. Investors totaling $25 million lost have already claimed their share of the seized amounts. Victims will probably only receive a small percentage of what they invested.
