Canadian ‘crypto king’ set to represent himself at fraud trial
Aiden Pleterski, a Canadian social media personality who called himself a “crypto king,” is set to go on trial in Ontario on Oct. 5 over allegations that he defrauded investors of about $30 million between 2021 and 2022 by claiming he earned large weekly profits from crypto trading. Canadian authorities charged him in May 2024 with fraud and money laundering. He has not secured a delay to find counsel and is expected to represent himself. The trial is expected to last about four weeks, and the fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if he is convicted. Pleterski became widely known during the 2022 crypto collapse, and his case followed a separate reported kidnapping and torture ordeal in which men allegedly forced him to address his role in the scheme on video.
