What Did the Financial Evidence Show?
Albert Ciorma, a forensic accountant with the Ontario Securities Commission, testified that investors provided Pleterski with more than $36.3 million. According to the evidence presented at trial, none of those funds was transferred to FXChoice, the trading platform identified in the investment arrangements.The prosecution argued that investor money instead funded luxury vehicles, credit card bills, travel, private jets and other personal expenses. Ciorma’s financial review attributed approximately $5.6 million to luxury vehicles, $4.9 million to credit card bills, $870,000 to travel and private jets, and $598,000 to security.The accountant also testified that Pleterski transferred nearly $3.7 million to his parents and took $609,000 in credit card cash advances. Separately, approximately $16.1 million was paid to investors, according to the financial evidence. Prosecutors argued that some payments represented money from later investors being used to repay earlier ones.One of the central issues concerned a purported $311 million trading account that Pleterski allegedly showed investors through screenshots and video. The jury heard an audio recording in which he acknowledged that the fund did not exist. Prosecutors argued that the account never held anything close to the amount represented to investors, with its highest balance reportedly reaching only $12,000.
Investor Takeaway
What Did Pleterski Tell the Jury?
Pleterski addressed the jury during his closing statement, maintaining that he was innocent. “I am innocent of these charges,” he said, adding that he had pleaded not guilty and that his position would have been proven had he not been forced to represent himself.He did not testify or call evidence in his defence. During the trial, he cross-examined only the first of the 14 witnesses called by the Crown. On several occasions, he told the judge that he did not know what questions to ask witnesses, and in one instance said that he needed a lawyer.Crown prosecutor Akshay Aurora argued that Pleterski controlled the alleged scheme and knowingly used investor money as his own. The prosecution’s closing focused on the financial records, investor testimony and evidence concerning the purported trading account.At the end of the Crown’s case, prosecutors withdrew a separate money-laundering charge. The jury is therefore considering the remaining fraud charge, which concerns fraud involving more than $5,000.
What Happens If the Jury Finds Him Guilty?
A conviction on the fraud charge could carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. That is the statutory maximum, not an automatic sentence, and any penalty would be determined in separate sentencing proceedings if the jury returns a guilty verdict.The proceedings are separate from the criminal case concerning Pleterski’s alleged kidnapping and torture in December 2022. Five men were charged in connection with that incident, with Deren Akyeam-Pong pleading guilty to nine charges and awaiting sentencing.The case also adds to a series of prosecutions involving alleged cryptocurrency investment fraud. FinanceFeeds has covered the conviction of Block Bits Capital’s founder for defrauding investors through a purported automated cryptocurrency trading fund, as well as the rejection of Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal against his 25-year prison sentence.
Investor Takeaway
The jury’s decision remains the immediate milestone. Until a verdict is delivered, the prosecution’s account of how investor money was handled remains an allegation to be assessed against the evidence presented in court.
