Aiden Pleterski, the 27-year-old who styled himself Canada's "Crypto King," will defend himself against fraud and money laundering charges at a Toronto jury trial starting Monday, after a judge refused to postpone it.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Shaun Nakatsuru denied an adjournment application on Monday, CBC News reported, leaving Pleterski without counsel for a four-week trial whose dates were fixed in June 2025.
"I want to assure you that even though this isn't your first choice, obviously, you will receive a fair trial," Nakatsuru told him. "I want you to be very free in asking questions," the judge said, adding, "Don't hesitate, just get up on your feet and ask me."
The judge set out the "enhanced role" he will take as a result, saying he will raise objections on Pleterski's behalf so that only admissible evidence reaches the jury.
Pleterski did retain a lawyer for the adjournment application itself. Marco Sciarra argued his client had been trying to raise money for trial counsel, and that extended family were prepared to liquidate assets to pay for one if the case were delayed.
Neither the relatives nor the assets were identified to the court. Crown attorney Scott Patterson seized on that, arguing Pleterski had not been "honest and genuine with his attempts to obtain counsel." Nakatsuru gave no reasons for his refusal.
Pleterski was charged in May 2024 with fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime, following a joint investigation by Durham Regional Police and the Ontario Securities Commission that the force called its largest fraud inquiry. An associate, Colin Murphy, was charged with one count of fraud over $5,000, having been jailed for five months that February for contempt after refusing to hand over his iPhone during a civil search and then wiping it. He was released in March pending appeal.
Pleterski has denied the allegations, which have not been proven in court. He was forced into bankruptcy in the summer of 2022 by investors trying to recover roughly $40 million they had given him to trade cryptocurrency and foreign exchange. Those proceedings returned about $3 million to some 160 investors. The trustee, Grant Thornton, found he had invested less than 2% of the money while spending nearly $16 million on himself, a finding Pleterski disputes.
Pleterski was kidnapped and tortured in late 2022, held for a $3 million ransom by men demanding money he no longer had. One of those charged in the abduction pleaded guilty last year.