Kidnapping of the 'Crypto King': Defense Claims Setup

<< The whole world is a stage >>, wrote Shakespeare. The lawyers for the three alleged kidnappers of Aiden Pleterski aim to convince a jury in Toronto. Their thesis is that the kidnapping of the << Crypto King >> in December 2022 was merely a staged event to extort money from a businessman.

The timing is cruel for the accused. Two weeks earlier, another jury found him guilty of defrauding his investors.

Key Points of This Article:

• Three men are on trial in Toronto for the kidnapping of Aiden Pleterski in 2022, contesting the reality of the abduction.
• Their lawyers are targeting Sandeep Gupta, the financier of the Crypto King, whom they accuse of knowing more than he admits.
• On October 29, the young Canadian was found guilty of squandering the money entrusted to him by his investors.

Trial of Aiden Pleterski's Kidnapping: The Fake Abduction Thesis

On the defendants' bench, Akil Heywood, Rakeem Henry, and Alfredo Paladino. Before the Superior Court of Ontario, they face charges of kidnapping, confinement, extortion, and armed assault.

The Crown's version, the Canadian public prosecution, is brutal. Heywood allegedly invested thousands of dollars with Pleterski, then paid his co-defendants to kidnap him and recover his investment.

According to the prosecution, his kidnappers abducted the 23-year-old on December 5, 2022, near the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto. Three days of captivity followed, moving from hideout to hideout around the city. They allegedly bound, beat, and burned him with cigarettes.

They eventually released him at the same location, with a phone purchased for him to call once the money was gathered. Another accused, Deren Akyeam-Pong, has already pleaded guilty to nine charges in this case.

The defense tells a very different story. On Thursday, November 12, the three lawyers suggested that the kidnapping was merely a setup intended to make Sandeep Gupta pay, whose group Sunray owns the Ritz-Carlton, reports Radio-Canada.

Sandeep Gupta, the Key Witness in the Defense's Crosshairs

Why him? Because Gupta was also the financier of the Crypto King. His group rented him a mansion in Burlington for 42,000 Canadian dollars per month, with a purchase planned for March 2023.

Payments ceased in April 2022. Pleterski had left a McLaren valued at 900,000 dollars as collateral. Out of concern for his safety, Gupta had also relocated him to one of his suburban hotel-condos.

On the night of December 6, 2022, the young man called him and demanded 3 million dollars. He never claimed to have been kidnapped. However, Gupta dialed 911 on his wife's phone during the conversation.

Hussein Aly, Heywood's lawyer, presents him as Pleterski's mentor, even as a co-conspirator in his Ponzi scheme. Gupta categorically denies having held any funds for him.

Leora Shemesh, who defends Paladino, did manage to extract a significant concession from the witness stand. << Yes, Aiden could have set me up during that call >>, acknowledged the businessman.

Finally, the texts produced by the defense undermine his account. In the fall of 2022, Pleterski was still using the offices of Sunray, and a lawyer from the group was helping him manage his bankruptcy.

Aiden Pleterski Found Guilty of Fraud Since October

The jury in the kidnapping trial already knows the outcome of the other case. On October 29, 2026, following a trial that opened on October 5, a jury found Aiden Pleterski guilty of fraud exceeding 5,000 dollars. The jurors deliberated for barely more than an hour.

He had indeed defended himself. Of the 14 witnesses for the Crown, he only cross-examined one, never testifying himself. The Crown had also dropped the money laundering charge.

And the amounts presented to the jury are staggering. His investors entrusted him with over 36 million Canadian dollars for trading, of which more than 16 million went to pay for private jets, luxury cars, and a mansion.

<< Pleterski was not a crypto king. He was a thief >>, declared prosecutor Akshay Aurora in his closing arguments, according to CBC.

While awaiting his sentence, Pleterski is under house arrest at his parents' home, who had already paid his bail of 100,000 dollars after his arrest in May 2024. He is expected in court this Friday, November 13, to set the schedule for his sentencing. The Canadian Criminal Code provides for up to 14 years in prison for this type of fraud.