Nearly Half of the 'Crypto King's' Investor Money Went to Him, Accountant Testifies

A senior forensic accountant testified Friday in Toronto's Superior Court that Aiden Pleterski — the self-described “Crypto King” — spent nearly half of the $36.3 million investors gave him on himself, CBC reports, and paid out about the same amount to investors as returns between 2020 and 2022. Put the two figures side by side and most of the money is accounted for: one large slice to personal spending, another to the payouts that kept funds coming in. A payout pipeline and a personal budget are not an investment strategy, and the gap between them is the thing a courtroom gets to sort out.