Kidnapper admits to beating, waterboarding ‘Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski

Warning: This story contains distressing details about torture and graphic images

Self-proclaimed “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski was on his knees begging for his life while his kidnapper pointed a gun at him and counted down from three. 

Before reaching one, the kidnapper fired the gun beside Pleterski’s head.

“Where is it?” Deren Akyeam-Pong demanded after taking the shot.

The exchange is part of a 13-second video taken the night of Pleterski’s 2022 kidnapping. It was entered as an exhibit during Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea on nine related charges including kidnapping, assault and various gun charges last month in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto. 

Pleterski, now 26, thought he was meeting with a potential investor on Dec. 5, 2022, when a gun was pressed into his ribs in the backseat of a pickup truck in Toronto. The abduction was the beginning of a three-day long kidnapping during which Pleterski was threatened and tortured. The torture included waterboarding, cigarette burns and getting beaten with golf clubs as his captors drove him between several locations in southern Ontario.

These new details come from the agreed-upon statement of facts presented in Akyeam-Pong’s case. The court filing and video were previously subject to a temporary publication ban which Justice Linda Shin lifted Monday.

‘Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski begs for his life during kidnapping

At the time of his kidnapping, Pleterski was a few months into a bankruptcy proceeding that his investors had forced him into, to try to recover more than $40 million they gave him to invest in cryptocurrency and foreign currencies.

Only about $3 million has since been recovered for roughly 160 investors through that proceeding, which also determined that Pleterski spent $16 million on himself.

The trials for two other men accused in the kidnapping — Akil Heywood and Alfredo Paladino — were set to begin last month, but following Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea, their lawyers requested an adjournment, which was granted. A trial for the third accused, Rakeem Henry, is set for January.

Heywood had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Pleterski. Heywood orchestrated the kidnapping to try to recover the money he thought he was owed, according to the agreed statement of facts in Akyeam-Pong’s case. He offered to pay Akyeam-Pong, Paladino and Henry to carry out the kidnapping. 

The kidnapping-related charges against Heywood, Paladino and Henry have yet to be tested in court. Their inclusion in this story, and alleged involvement in the kidnapping, is based on the agreed statement of facts from Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea. Heywood previously told CBC Toronto he is innocent.

A few days before Pleterski’s abduction, Akyeam-Pong posed as a crypto investor called “Slime Dawg Millionaire” and met him at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Toronto to gain his trust, according to the agreed statement of facts. Henry also attended the meeting.

On Dec. 5, a second meeting was set up with Pleterski under the premise of wanting more information about cryptocurrency.

This time, Pleterski got inside the pickup truck Akyeam-Pong arrived in, along with Paladino and Henry. Once Pleterski was in the back seat with Henry, Akyeam-Pong got in on Pleterski’s other side and Henry pressed a gun into his ribs.

Pleterski was forced to hand over his passport, cash and wallet and the kidnappers zip-tied his hands and eventually put a bag over his head. The men then drove Pleterski to a field in the Niagara Region where he was questioned about his assets. He told the kidnappers he had none because they were frozen in his bankruptcy. The 13-second video entered as an exhibit in Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea was allegedly filmed by Paladino during this interaction. 

After Akyeam-Pong fires the gun beside Pleterski’s head in the video, Pleterski tells his kidnapper “Sandeep has it all, Sandeep has it all, Slime.”

The agreed statement of facts says that Sandeep Gupta, Pleterski’s landlord, didn’t actually have the money, though Pleterski told the kidnappers he did. Based on that belief, the kidnappers had Pleterski call Gupta several times and when he didn’t pick up the kidnappers beat Pleterski. Eventually Gupta did answer, and Akyeam-Pong asked him for money.

Gupta called 911 while he was on the phone with Pleterski, which prompted a Toronto police investigation.

The next day, the kidnappers took Pleterski to a junkyard where most of the torture he endured happened, according to the court filing.

Pleterski was burned with a cigarette, Akyeam-Pong cut pieces of flesh off of his hand, a gun was again pointed at him, he was waterboarded twice and then left in the back of the truck.

From there, Pleterski was driven to a house in the Pickering, Ont., area where he was kept in the basement. This was where the agreed statement of facts says another video — previously obtained by CBC Toronto, of a visibly beaten Pleterski explaining what he was told to say happened to the money and apologizing to investors — was recorded. 

Ontario’s Crypto King says video of him beaten was recorded during kidnapping

At the time that video was taken, Akyeam-Pong, Paladino, Henry and a group of other men wearing masks were present. The video was filmed on Pleterski’s phone while guns were pointed at him. A foghorn sound was added to the video to mask Akyeam-Pong’s voice. 

Pleterski convinced the kidnappers he needed to set up an in-person meeting with Gupta to get the money.

On Dec. 7, a meeting was arranged with Gupta at a Tim Hortons near Victoria Park Avenue and Highway 401 in Toronto, but lookouts the kidnappers had sent spotted a police SWAT unit nearby so the kidnappers ditched the meeting.

Akyeam-Pong then drove Pleterski to London, Ont., where he and Henry beat Pleterski with golf clubs and Akyeam-Pong threatened to put a hit on Pleterski’s parents. 

On Dec. 8, the kidnappers drove Pleterski to a house in Niagara Falls where a COVID mask was taped to his face, his wrists and ankles were zip-tied and his head and shoulders were taped. 

Akyeam-Pong and Henry then left Pleterski under the watch of a man and woman who Pleterski subsequently bribed to let him go, but the kidnappers returned before he could escape, according to the agreed statement of facts. 

The kidnappers then drove Pleterski back to Toronto, where Akyeam-Pong told Pleterski they would release him so he could meet up with Gupta and blackmail him for money.

Pleterski was dropped off at the Ritz-Carlton just before 9 p.m. with a phone that had two numbers on it — one for Gupta and one for ‘John Doe’ who he was supposed to call when he had the funds. 

Pleterski suffered several injuries including a gash to his head, a black eye, swollen jaw and other cuts and burns.

The agreed statement of facts refers to several audio and video recordings recovered from the kidnapping, alongside other surveillance video, placing the kidnappers in or near the locations described and purchasing SIM cards for the phones used during the abduction.  

In April 2023, Pleterski told police that he’d received a threat that he’d be taken again with his family and none of their bodies would be found. Police identified Akyeam-Pong as one of the kidnappers early in their investigation and arrested him the same day the threat was reported on an unrelated warrant.

At the time, Akyeam-Pong was driving a black Mercedes with the same licence plate used by the pickup truck during the kidnapping. Akyeam-Pong also had a loaded semi-automatic handgun on him when he was arrested.

A new trial date for Heywood and Paladino has been scheduled for November of next year. Henry’s trial is set for January.

In May 2024, Pleterski was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering related to the money he took from investors. Those charges have not yet been tested in court. Pleterski’s trial is set for October 2026.