Canada's "Crypto King" accused of squandering $16.3 million of investors' money on luxury cars, private jets, and more.

PANews October 17 news, according to a CBC report, Aiden Pleterski, who calls himself the "Crypto King," is on trial at the Superior Court of Ontario in Toronto. A senior forensic accountant for the Ontario Securities Commission testified that between 2020 and 2022, investors put $36.3 million into him, and he spent nearly half of it on personal expenses. Specific expenditures include: about $5.6 million on luxury cars, $4.9 million in credit card bills, $870,000 on travel and private jets, $598,000 on security, and nearly $3.7 million transferred to his parents, among others. At the same time, he paid investors about $16.1 million as "returns."

The accountant pointed out that investor funds were never transferred to the trading platform FXChoice promised in the contracts, and only about $113,000 flowed to other forex and cryptocurrency platforms. Prosecutors allege that he guaranteed investment returns but did not actually trade, instead using the funds for personal consumption. Pleterski denies the fraud and money laundering charges, and the case is still being heard.