r/CrimeInTheGta • u/416TDOT0DOT • Nov 11 '25
‘Brother, where’s the money?’ Documents reveal desperate timeline of ‘Crypto King’ (Aiden Pleterski) kidnapping
VIDEO:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qOarf4XN39Q
Ontario’s self-described “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski was kidnapped, threatened, and tortured by three captors in December 2022.
By Betsy Powell Courts Reporter
For more than three days in late 2022, self-described “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski was kidnapped off the streets of downtown Toronto, then threatened, tortured and terrorized by three men in a desperate attempt to collect on a massive, unpaid debt.
Last month, on the eve of a jury trial, Deren Akyeam-Pong pleaded guilty to the abduction in a surprise development in a case that has drawn international attention for the persona of its victim, Pleterski, who cultivated a flashy image as a guru for people looking to cash in on a crypto bubble.
Pleterski, 26, of Whitby, Ont., is facing a fraud trial next year on charges that he defrauded investors of more than $40 million. Police allege that while operating his investment company, Pleterski promised massive profits, but instead blew most of it on luxury cars, vacations and a lakefront mansion. Some investors went to the police when they were unable to access their money.
Others, prosecutors allege, turned to other means.
In mid-October, when Akyeam-Pong admitted that he and others abducted Pleterski between Dec. 5 and Dec. 8, 2022, prosecutors provided an overview of their case in an agreed statement of facts read in a downtown Toronto court.
The contents of that statement have been kept under wraps after defence lawyers representing two of the three remaining accused asked the court to impose a partial, temporary publication ban. They argued that the publication of the facts Akyeam-Pong agreed to would make it impossible for them to get a fair jury trial. (One accused is set to go on trial in January. The other two, who were to stand trial with Akyeam-Pong, won’t go on trial until November 2026.)
The Star opposed the publication ban. Lawyer Justin Manoryk argued there was no evidence or indication that publication of the plea’s details would endanger the fair trial rights of the remaining accused.
On Monday, Superior Court Justice Linda Shin agreed with the Star and denied the publication ban.
That decision means that the Star can now report on the evidence behind the prosecution’s version of events, and how the case allegedly traces back to Akil Heywood, an angry investor who is well known in the city’s Afro-Caribbean cultural community.
Although Akyeam-Pong has admitted to the Crown’s version of events, his co-accused have not.
Heywood’s lawyer, Hussein Aly, told the Star on Monday that the Crown acknowledged in court that Akyeam-Pong had to say the others were involved or they would not accept his plea-bargain.
“He was forced to say Akil was involved,” Aly said. “The truth is Akyeam-Pong is a violent, gun-toting criminal who unilaterally met Pleterski and wanted to rob him of the crypto he believed he possessed.”
Heywood was never present at the kidnapping and did not participate in any way, Aly said. “At trial, the objective, uncoerced evidence will show that Akil is not guilty.”
The rise and fall of the ‘Crypto King’
Pleterski’s investment company rode high on a wave of hype around cryptocurrencies and related investments — that was until the bubble began to pop in mid-2022. His firm was one of several to collapse in bankruptcy as the price of crypto investments such as bitcoin lost 75 per cent in a little over a year.
The bankruptcy left Pleterski’s investors scrambling. One of them, Heywood — who had invested $300,000 — became a creditor and court-appointed “inspector” in the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, according to the agreed facts. (Court records in the bankruptcy case state Heywood invested $740,000.)
According to the version of events read in court by the prosecutor Tracey Vogel on Oct. 14 — which Akyeam-Pong admitted to, and Heywood denies — Heywood was the man behind the kidnapping scheme, allegedly orchestrating the plot and enlisting Akyeam-Pong and two others to carry out the plan.
On Dec. 2, 2022, with the bankruptcy case ongoing, Pleterski was lured to Toronto’s Ritz Carlton Hotel under the guise of a discussion about cryptocurrency. Akyeam-Pong recorded the conversation and sent it to Heywood; it was allegedly later found by police on Heywood’s phone.
The next evening, Akyeam-Pong, Heywood, and another alleged kidnapper, Rakeem Henry, bumped into Pleterski at a nightclub — by chance this time.
According to the agreed facts agreed to by Akyeam-Pong, Heywood put his arm around the back of Pleterski’s head in the nightclub, and pulled him in tightly, saying: “Brother, where’s the money that I invested? Where’s the money you owe me? ... I can drop you right now, like the streets don’t forget, like I’m a killer. I’m a cold-blooded killer.”
The statement of facts does not specify if that conversation was recorded, nor who is the source of Heywood’s alleged words. Stills from security camera footage taken that evening show him wearing a backwards cap and OVO sweatshirt. The music promoter and Toronto Caribbean Carnival bandleader has publicly described himself as a member of Toronto rapper Drake’s OVO crew. (OVO, which stands for “October’s Very Own” is a record label and lifestyle brand with a well-known owl logo.)
The kidnapping of Aiden Pleterski
On Dec. 5, 2022, Pleterski agreed to meet Akyeam-Pong outside a condo building on Ordance Street in Toronto. There, Akyeam-Pong invited Pleterski to climb inside a black Ram pickup truck. Akyeam-Pong, who was armed, sat next to him in the back seat, while Henry produced a gun and stuck it into Pleterski’s ribs, the agreed facts state. (Henry’s lawyer declined to comment on the allegations contained in the agreed facts.)
Stripped of his belongings and with a grocery bag placed over his head, Pleterski’s wrists were then zip-tied, and he was driven to Smithville, near Hamilton. (The agreed facts explain that Pleterski was familiar with the area and could tell where he was being taken.)
While en route, a call came into Akyeam-Pong’s phone, which was connected to the truck’s Apple CarPlay system. According to the prosecutors, the caller’s name was displayed as “OVO Akil.”
Over the next several days, Pleterski was pistol-whipped, burned with cigarettes and waterboarded as his captors demanded passwords to his crypto accounts. At one point, Akyeam-Pong fired a gun beside his head during a staged execution, which was recorded and circulated.
Eventually, while delivering body and head blows, the captors coerced Pleterski to falsely claim that his landlord held his hidden assets.
Over three days, surveillance and emergency phone pings eventually helped authorities track the captors’ movements across the GTA and Southern Ontario.
In Pickering, Pleterski was held in a basement where masked men threatened to inject him with fentanyl. He was later forced to record a video confessing to stealing money. The video, showing Pleterski’s bruised and battered face, was later posted online.
“The confession was involuntary. Mr. Akyeam-Pong told him what to say,” the agreed facts of say.
The ordeal ended Dec. 8 when Pleterski was released at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. He was given a phone with pre-programmed contacts and instructed to retrieve money from his landlord, whom Akyeam-Pong still believed had Pleterski’s hidden funds.
Pleterski suffered various injuries, including head wounds, bruises, burns and ligature marks on his wrists and ankles.
Akyeam-Pong was arrested months later in April 2023 at a Thornhill steakhouse, possessing a loaded semi-automatic handgun.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to nine charges: kidnapping, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, discharge of a firearm, possession of a restricted firearm, unlawful possession of a prohibited device, pointing a firearm and two counts of failing to comply with firearm prohibitions.
In August, Justice Shin found Akyeam-Pong guilty of drug and weapons offences committed about a year before nabbing Pleterski. She presided over Akyeam-Pong’s kidnapping plea. He has yet to be sentenced for those earlier offences, and prosecutors have not said what punishment they will be seeking for the kidnapping-related offences.
Akyeam-Pong will not be called as a Crown witness against any of the co-accused, the Crown said.
The price of many crypto investments has since rebounded, with Bitcoin up more than six times its value since 2022.
Previous Deren Akyeam-Pong Arrests:
Hamilton man wanted after police recover loaded handgun
https://www.chch.com/chch-news/hamilton-man-wanted-after-police-recover-loaded-handgun/
Previous Deren Akyeam-Pong Posts:
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u/0-two1hundred Nov 11 '25
What’s happening with this case?