Real estate developer testifies he gave 'Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski $4.5M to invest

One of the self-described "Crypto King's" largest investors testified Wednesday about how Aiden Pleterski was touted as the "next big thing" and that he'd heard about others getting paid returns before he began investing thousands and later millions of dollars with him. 

Real estate developer Sacha Singh, who testified virtually at Pleterski's fraud trial in Toronto, said he first met the now-27-year-old at a restaurant in Pickering, Ont., in the spring of 2021. 

"I know a lot of big entrepreneurs in the crypto space are younger kids," Singh told the jury in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

"I thought he was a sharp kid and could be one of those unicorns."

Singh signed a contract for his first investment of $10,000 cash that April. From there, the court was shown 22 more investment contracts between Singh and Pleterski totalling more than $4.5 million over the next 10 months. 

Wire transfer receipts were shown for most of the contracts, which ranged from $10,000 to $1.3 million, but a few others included notes they were paid in cash. 

Pleterski is representing himself at his fraud and money laundering trial before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. (Aiden Pleterski/Instagram/Durham Regional Police)