Stewart Wilson testified it felt like “TV stuff“ as he sat in self-described “Crypto King“ Aiden Pleterskiâs lakefront mansion five years ago as he told him he was operating a $30-$50 million investment fund.
“It was about 8,000 square feet on the waterfront in Burlington. At that point you could peg it at eight million dollars,” Wilson told the court.
“He told me he bought it. I told him he was crazy.“
Wilson, who ended up investing $890,000 with Pleterski, was called as a witness for the Crown in the now 27-year-oldâs fraud and money laundering trial Wednesday in Superior Court in Toronto.
Pleterski has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The Crown is alleging Pleterski guaranteed investors’ money given to him for trading between July 2020 and July 2022, but never actually invested the funds. Instead, the Crown argues Pleterski spent the money on himself: Exotic cars, flights on private jets, lavish shopping and credit card bills that ran into the millions.
About a year and half before Wilsonâs November 2021 mansion visit, he testified that Pleterski showed up at his business, GTA Exotics, which rents out luxury cars. He said Pleterski “started out small,” renting an Audi R8. From there, Pleterski went on to rent out higher-end sports cars like Lamborginis and a McLaren.Â
Eventually, Wilson said Pleterski stopped renting and he said he believed Pleterski had bought his own Audi.Â
“I saw through social media he was doing well, living in this big house … he bought some very extravagant cars, I was happy for him,“ Wilson testified.
“He didnât try to entice me at all into joining, which I thought was pretty cool, he was doing it on his own.“
After seeing that, and hearing Pleterskiâs close friends and family were investing and hearing they were getting returns, Wilson says he reached out to Pleterski to catch up and was invited to Pleterskiâs Burlington, Ont. mansion.Â
Wilson said Pleterski told him he was paying a $49,000 monthly mortgage and that he saw a many of “the newest Lamborghinis,“ worth roughly $600,000 each, at the property, as well as a McLaren he estimated would be worth $2 million in Pleterskiâs garage.
He also said Pleterski told him the investment fund he was trading with was now between $30-$50 million.
Stewart Wilson testified that Pleterski showed up at his business, GTA Exotics, and rented out an Audi R8. Pleterski went on to rent higher-end sports cars like Lamborginis and a McLaren. (Aiden Pleterski/YouTube)
“Iâm literally sitting in his living room doing the math. How much heâs paying for his mortgage, how much he paid for these cars,” Wilson said. “He had been raking in a lot of money.“
After the meeting, Wilson decided to start investing with Pleterski and signed an initial investment contract for $300,000. A copy of it was shown in court and it included a guarantee that the principal investment would be returned over time if the money was lost.Â
“Everything just made sense. It was smooth. It made me feel very comfortable. So thatâs why we invested,“ said Wilson.Â
“I considered him a friend. And his closest friends were investing with him, that I knew.“
Wilson went on to invest another $590,000 over four more contracts between November 2021 and February 2022. Wilson said Pleterski told him he was investing in gold and foreign exchange, not cryptocurrency. Wilson said he didnât trust cryptocurrency and wouldnât invest in it.
The court was shown text messages between the pair where Pleterski would update Wilson on the percentage of returns that week and also spreadsheets on each of the investments. One of those spreadsheets showed a $100,000 investment in mid-December 2021 more than doubled to about $241,300 by the end of March.Â
Exotic cars and private jets: Inside day one of the ‘Crypto King’ trial
In March, Wilson tried to get some of his money out. The jury saw text messages from Pleterski stringing him along for weeks â saying the money was coming, but it never did.
“Did you ever receive that money back?“ Crown prosecutor Scott Patterson asked Wilson.Â
“Nothing,“ Wilson responded.Â
Pleterski, who is representing himself at trial, told the court he did not have any questions for Wilson. He also decided not to cross-examine another investor, Olesya Chornenka, earlier Wednesday morning.
Pleterski told the judge, “I donât have any questions, I need a lawyer.“
