'Crypto King' investor recounts the moment he learned $311M investment fund didn’t exist
An investor and friend of Aiden Pleterski showed up at the lakefront mansion of the self-described "Crypto King" in June 2022 to "get proof in person" of how much money was in Pleterski’s investment account. Pleterski has pleaded not guilty to fraud over $5,000 and money laundering.
Mitchell Learning testified on 4th day of trial that Aiden Pleterski admitted to running 'Ponzi scheme'
Nicole Brockbank · CBC News
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An investor and friend of Aiden Pleterski showed up at the lakefront mansion of the self-described "Crypto King" in June 2022 to "get proof in person" of how much money was in Pleterski’s investment account — after receiving a screenshot and video showing a balance of $311 million.
Mitchell Learning, who said he invested $400,000, took the stand Friday, on the fourth day of Pleterski’s fraud and money laundering trial in Toronto. Both the screenshot and video showing the trading account were presented in Superior Court.
Pleterski wasn’t home when Learning arrived at his Burlington, Ont., home.
In his absence, Learning testified he was able to gain access to Pleterski’s email account on his computer and found an email from the trading platform FXChoice confirming Pleterski had "successfully deleted" the account where the $311 million was supposed to be.
Aiden Pleterski's Burlington, Ont., mansion. Friend and investor Mitchell Learning, who said he invested $400,000 with Pleterski, says he went to his home seeking proof of an investment fund. (Pelin Sidki/CBC)
He then told mutual friends to come to Pleterski’s mansion, and one of them recorded a video, also presented in court, of Pleterski’s emails. Those included account statements from another trading platform Forex.com.
"Looks like it’s never been higher than $1,000, oh my god," the friend says on the video as he and Learning look through the statements.
Referring to the "available margin" on another statement, the friend says, "400 f–king dollars, I’ve been f–ked."
Confronting the 'Crypto King'
Later, Learning said Pleterski returned home and told him and Pleterski’s girlfriend "a story" where Pleterski was trading and everything was going well until the summer of 2021 "where apparently things took a turn."
"At the end of the summer, around September 2021, he had $40 million in a trading account," Learning said about what Pleterski told him.
"It only kept going down from there. He tried to make riskier trades to make money back, essentially losing the remainder of the money and then from that point on starting running a Ponzi scheme."
Mitchell Learning testified at the Superior Court in Toronto on Friday on the fourth day of 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski’s fraud and money laundering trial. (Pam Davies/CBC News)
Afterward, Learning said he left the house and didn’t really know what to do.
"There were a lot of emotions and I was definitely very upset about everything," he said in court.
Two days later, Learning said he recorded a phone call with Pleterski. The jury was expected to hear that recording after lunch Friday.
The Crown is alleging Pleterski guaranteed investors' money given to him for trading, but never actually invested the funds. Instead, the Crown argues Pleterski spent the money on himself, including on exotic cars, flights on private jets, lavish shopping and credit card bills that ran into the millions.
Range Rover, McLaren on Instagram
Earlier Friday, Learning explained how he first met Pleterski when they played a season of baseball together in 2014. They followed each other on Instagram, and in 2020 when Learning saw Pleterski post a photo of Range Rover and McLaren, Learning said he reached out to find out what Pleterski was up to. Pleterski said he was trading.
In Sept. 2020, Learning first gave Pleterski $2,500 to trade on his behalf. His investment later grew to $400,000.
"I got quite a lot of money out originally," said Learning. "I think it was just over a million dollars."
Aiden Pleterski posted these photos from the Burlington, Ont., mansion where he was living on his Instagram account. (aiden.ptrs/Instagram)
Learning testified that he eventually gave some of that money to family and friends who also invested and were trying to get their principal funds back.
Earlier on, Learning also said he tried to get more involved in Pleterski’s operation and would pick up and deliver bank drafts from investors for Pleterski, at one point getting paid $2,000 a week for six weeks to do these and similar errands.
Learning also went on three trips with Pleterski, where they flew on private jets — one to Ohio for a boxing match, a second to Florida for a week and a third to Turks and Caicos for Pleterski’s girlfriend’s birthday in March 2022.
Pleterski was arrested in May 2024 after a lengthy investigation by Durham Regional Police and the Ontario Securities Commission. Police allege he operated a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. He’s pleaded not guilty to fraud over $5,000 and money laundering.
So far at trial, nine investors have testified to giving Pleterski more than $2 million collectively to trade on their behalf. Most of them said they didn’t get any of that money back.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicole Brockbank is a reporter for CBC Toronto's Enterprise Unit. She digs up, researches and reports GTA-focused investigative and enterprise stories. nicole.brockbank@cbc.ca
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