A 24-year-old man accused of spending millions on private jets, supercars and luxury holidays in a cryptocurrency scam was allegedly kidnapped and tortured.
Crypto King Adam Pleterski only invested 2% of the £13million he was given by clients and spent the rest on his lavish lifestyle, according to court documents.
He is now going through bankruptcy proceedings after attempts by Canadian authorities to track down the missing money that was handed over to his business AP Private Equity by customers looking to invest in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange.
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A couple of McLarens, two BMWs and a Lamborghini were seized from Pleterski in September by authorities.
Three months later, Pleterski’s dad told a court that his son had been abducted and tortured, saying: “He was taken.
“They basically held him for approximately three days, drove him around different, various parts of southern Ontario, beat him, tortured him, allowed him to make specific phone calls to specific people only. I was not one of those people that he was allowed to contact.”
He was, however, allowed to call his landlord, who has claimed that Pleterski asked him for a $3million (£2.4million) ransom payment.
The landlord told the court that he informed the alleged fraudster that he could not help.
Pleterski was then supposedly released by the captors on the understanding that he paid the money quickly.
Rob Stelzer, the trustee appointed to produce a report on the case, said that he was informed about the kidnapping from Toronto police in early December.
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He is now inviting more people who were allegedly duped by Pleterski to come forward and make a claim.
Mr Steltzer said: “We know $41 million came into the account net. We know only $25 million has been filed in claims. You can do the math.”
Almost 140 people, who invested $20million between them, initially responded to a public appeal for information from a fraud recovery legal firm leading the investigation into Pleterski.
It was found that he owned 11 vehicles and leased an additional four luxury cars.
He also rented a lakefront mansion in Burlington, Ontario for $45,000 a month.
Lawyer Gary Caplan has revealed that Pleterski’s parents have agreed to return two cars – an Audi S5 and Volkswagen Atlas worth more than £80,000 – to the trustee as well as pay £500,000 on or before June 30.
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