MANDEL: Toppled Crypto King recounts harrowing Toronto kidnapping
· Toronto Sun
As soon as dethroned Crypto King Aiden Pleterski took the witness stand in the trial against his alleged kidnappers, he opened with a Canadian version of taking the Fifth.
“Before I begin, I would like to say, in advance of testifying, I wish to be clear that pursuant to Section 5.2 of the Canada Evidence Act, I am objecting in advance to answering any questions on the ground that my answer may tend to incriminate me, or may tend to establish my liability in a civil proceeding,” he said, reading from a statement.
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“I’m also relying on any protections available to me under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, based on me being compelled to testify in this proceeding.”
But unlike the American protection against self-incrimination, witnesses can’t refuse to testify in the Canadian judicial system, so the recently convicted fraudster went on to spend the day calmly describing the harrowing few days in December 2022 when he says he was abducted near Fort York in Toronto, beaten and threatened with death unless he paid $2 to $3 million to a duped investor.
‘Scared for my life’
“I was scared for my life,” said Pleterski, 27. “Scared I was going to die.”
Akil Heywood, the 42-year-old investor who allegedly orchestrated the scheme after losing his money to Pleterski, and co-accused kidnappers Rakeem Henry and Alfredo Paladino, both 26, have pleaded not guilty.
Heywood, he said, had invested between $300,000 and $400,000 with him and was later an inspector in the bankruptcy proceedings against him.
On Dec. 5, 2022, Pleterski thought he was meeting “Slime” – another kidnapper not involved in the current trial – to talk about converting his crypto into cash when he was picked up in a grey Dodge Ram on Ordinance St. He identified the driver as Paladino and the backseat passenger as Henry, who he knew as “Rax” or “Stax.”
“Hey, broski,” “Slime” said, “there’s a couple more things I want to talk to you about.”
Wedged between “Slime” and Henry as they were driven west toward Hamilton, Pleterski said “Slime” pulled out a silver pistol and showed him the .22 calibre bullets in the magazine. He recognized the gun as a Tech-9.
“I played a lot of Call of Duty in my teenage years,” he explained.
‘Where’s the money?’
Henry pulled down a ski mask, he said, and had a black firearm on his lap loaded with “iron bullets. They’ll f— you up.”
“You stole a bunch of money,” “Slime” told him. “Where’s the money, where’s the money?”
“Slime” took a call and Pleterski said he “knew instantly” it was Heywood’s voice threatening him: “Where the f— is my money, pussy? You’re either going to pay with your money or you’re going to pay with your life.”
Frantic to get himself out of the situation, he called two “rich” people for the ransom – one of them being his landlord, Sandeep Gupta. He concocted a false story, he said, that the successful hotelier was hiding assets for him and was coached by his captors on demanding $2 to $3 million.
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Pleterski said he was taken to a field near Smithville where he was told to get on his knees as “Slime” pointed a gun at his head and demanded the money. As he begged for his life and screamed, “Sandeep has it all,” the kidnapper counted down from 10 and fired a shot right by his head.
A video of the terrifying mock execution, with his captors laughing in the background, was played for the jury with Pleterski identifying himself, Paladino and Henry in the clip.
As dawn rose, “Slime” announced “this kid needs to be waterboarded,” and Pleterski said he was laid across the truck’s tailgate with Paladino holding his ankles and Henry covering his face with a towel as he was doused with water.
“It actually felt like I was drowning,” he recalled.
‘I didn’t want to or mean to ruin anybody’s life’
Pleterski was then driven to a home in Pickering. As “Wanted dead or alive” by Bon Jovi played on the radio, the hooded Pleterski said a man told him he’d flown in from Europe because he owed him $5 to $6 million.
“He made threats that he was going to inject me with fentanyl while pressing something against my vein,” he explained.
His eyes swollen, his face bruised and beaten, his Harvard sweatshirt stained with blood, Pleterski said he was later made to record a 12-minute confession video about losing $45 million in one month alone and promising to pay everyone back before buying himself another expensive watch or car.
“The last thing I want to say to all the investors and all the creditors is everything that happened is my fault,” he said in the video played for the jury.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to or mean to ruin anybody’s life.”
Pleterski’s testimony continues Monday.