{
  "id": 12771996,
  "title": "Trial for self-proclaimed ‘Crypto King’ hears from investors he allegedly bilked",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/trial-for-self-proclaimed-crypto-king-hears-from-investors-he",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-08T02:53:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Global News",
    "slug": "global-news",
    "url": "https://globalnews.ca/news/12091683/crypto-king-trial-aiden-pleterski/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a trial for fraud charges, investors who allegedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to Aiden Pleterski testified on Wednesday. Pleterski, known as the \"Crypto King,\" is accused of defrauding investors and is charged with fraud over $5,000 and money laundering. The 27-year-old pleaded not guilty.\n\nBradem Martyniuk, one of Pleterski's alleged victims, testified that he was influenced by Pleterski's claim of being \"The Crypto King\" to invest his money. Martyniuk believed Pleterski was trading on a Forex platform and promised returns of three percent a week. He wired Pleterski $250,000 and signed a contract, but when he asked for his money back in May or June 2022, he received nothing.\n\nCrown Counsel Scott Patterson outlined Pleterski's rise to wealth, stating that before June 2020, he lived with his parents in Whitby, worked at a rental agency, and drove a Honda Civic. Patterson said Pleterski began soliciting money from people in mid-2020, promising a 30 percent cut of capital gains and claiming he had a system that would never lose more than two percent, targeting five percent gains. Patterson alleged that investors trusted Pleterski and believed he would use their money as promised.\n\nHowever, Patterson told the jury that in the spring of 2022, when investors wanted to withdraw their funds, Pleterski had no money to give. He allegedly gave excuses, delayed returns of money, and told investors their funds were frozen in a foreign exchange account. Patterson argued that Pleterski had simply spent the investor money as if it were his own.",
  "summary": "Aiden Pleterski, 27, is charged with fraud over $5,000 and money laundering and has pleaded not guilty.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}