Burned Investor Accused of Kidnapping and Assaulting Ontario’s ‘Crypto King’ (Report)

Canadian law enforcement agents have reportedly arrested 39-year-old Akil Heywood over allegations that he kidnapped, threatened, and beat Aiden Pleterski in December 2022. The latter allegedly orchestrated a crypto scam, draining more than $40 million from investors. Records show Heywood invested $740,000 with Pletersky, making him one of countless victims.

The alleged fraudster apologized in a recent video, vowing to “live on the bare minimum” to pay back the scam investors.

Brutal way of revenge?

like mentioned By CBC, Heywood is among the five people facing charges related to the kidnapping and assault of self-proclaimed “King of Crypto” Aiden Peltersky at the end of last year. The former was supposed to be one of the individuals lured into a cryptocurrency scheme run by the latter and acted as an inspector in the case’s bankruptcy proceedings.

“I’ve never seen a bankruptcy proceeding where an inspector is charged with kidnapping and involuntary confinement related to recovering money in bankruptcy,” said Norman Grote, a fraud recovery attorney.

A spokesperson told Grant Thornton that Heywood had resigned as inspector on 7 July. Aside from the alleged kidnapping, Atlantic chairman Mas Camp, 39, supposedly threatened bankruptcy trustee Rob Stelzer to induce him to pay $2 million in cryptocurrency (a sum significantly higher than the $740,000 he lost investing with the “Crypto King”). ). During the investigation, the Canadian authorities released Heywood on bail.

Pletersky’s attorney, Michael Semaan, said his client was “grateful for the work of the Toronto police in apprehending those involved in his kidnapping and assault.”

It is worth noting that Pleterski warned of Heywood’s aggressive behavior two weeks before the kidnapping. He said during an interview that the accused kidnapper “still, by the way, makes threats, very serious and violent threats, to me via the comment and text sections of my Instagram.”

The other four men accused of kidnapping Pleterski face additional charges, such as pointing a firearm at him. None of the claims have yet been tested in court.

From “King of Cryptocurrency” to a man begging for forgiveness

Besides reporting the kidnapping and suspects, the media published A video shows how Peltiersky regrets the losses he caused to investors. The battered man clearly explained that he started dealing in digital currencies in 2020, while in the following months, he offered his services to family, friends and other individuals.

And while the chart worked perfectly during the cryptocurrency bull market, it “went all the way down” when the prices started to drop.

“When the cryptocurrency market started crashing in November of 2021, I had to be honest with everyone. I lost enough as my debts outweighed my assets… I lost almost $45 million alone in the cryptocurrency market in a month’s time.” one,” Pletersky said.

According to a bankruptcy report seen by CBC, the “Crypto King” used only $670,700 of the aforementioned amount as planned, while spending nearly $16 million to fund his lavish lifestyle (going on vacations, renting private jets, and buying luxury cars).

Beltersky admitted to putting some of the investors’ deposits toward car payments, food expenses and home settlements. He said he felt “deeply offended” and “embarrassed”, and promised to work around the clock to compensate the victims:

“I’ll do that before I go and buy myself another car before I go and buy myself another watch before I go and buy myself expensive clothes or anything. I’ll live on the bare minimum until every last soul is paid off.”

On the other hand, Pletersky’s lawyer claimed that the information in the video should not be taken for granted because his client may have been forced to say these things by his captors. Furthermore, the alleged crypto fraudster insisted that he was innocent.