StellarCrowandClaude Fable 5.1
439e83a4cb
Second and third rounds on the dossier pipeline, reviewed locally before commit. Retrieval - wayback_pass.py: retries every BLOCKED/DEAD/THIN/ERROR linked source through the Wayback Machine; blocks carry the snapshot date, archive URL and the live verdict. 143 slots retried: 93 fetched, 37 no snapshot, 12 script shells, 1 PDF. - fetch_sources.py: fetch_wayback() helper. - add_extra_sources.py: files staged extra_* finds (web search, not on the DB record) into the store with a provenance note. - Cases re-sourced by web search: 248 (Oslo: Document.no, Avisa Oslo, NRK; the linked Le Parisien piece is case 242 and is marked OFF-CASE), 258 Kharkiv, 260 Singapore, 358 Bangkok, 365 Las Vegas, 388 Verneuil-sur-Seine, 390 Zoersel, 430 Homestead. 341 of 364 cases now hold a fetched article; 11, 66 and 399 have no public text source (podcast, police video, direct victim report). Trimming - auto_trim.py: case-anchored furniture cut for UNTRIMMED blocks. Finds the body run that mentions the case, merges across subheadings and short furniture gaps, drops teasers, share bars, date/URL/caption lines and subscription pitches; refuses pages with no record term or almost no body. 302 blocks trimmed; 16 left on auto-trim-review.md (7 OFF-CASE suspects). Every cut is labelled AUTO-TRIMMED, UNREVIEWED in the dossier; the full extract stays in staging/. Decisions with anchors in trim-decisions-auto.json. - build_cases.py / verify_all.py: banners for auto-trimmed and archived blocks, staged-file check extended to Wayback blocks, flag legend under the record. Detention rule - README "Definitions": the DB field `kidnappings` is the DETENTION violence type (victim, guard, staff or relative held to force submission or execute the theft), distinct from the Kidnapping scenario (taken away and held). - detention-flag-review.md / detention-flag-corrections.json: 40 records reviewed with evidence; 30 set-to-1 proposals accepted by the owner on 2026-09-06 (listed in corrections-approved.md), 10 still open. - apply_detention_wording.py: "Violence Used" in the 70 reviewed summaries now names detention explicitly (62 of 70 labelled), supported by the summary's own text; idempotent; supersedes the batch scripts' wording. Worklist and docs - sofia-worklist.md: 248 decisions, detention rule item replacing the old "no abduction" item, fresh-search section for the textless cases. - README-START-HERE.md: progress notes, run commands, next steps. - Bug fixed in passing: Wayback blocks stored in-memory text with carriage returns; now stored as read back from disk. verify_all.py PASSES (2321 checks). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GZZENdTLzNGsbNy4DyF1yt
207 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
207 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
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CASE 141 | Aiden Pleterski | December, 2022 | Canada
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================================================================================================
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DATABASE RECORD
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id 141
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date December, 2022
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original_date December, 2022
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year 2022
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month 12
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quarter 2022-Q4
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victim Aiden Pleterski
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location Toronto, Ontario
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country Canada
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scenario Kidnapping
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description "Crypto king" abducted, tortured, and beaten for days as his kidnappers sought millions in ransom
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kidnappings 1
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violence_torture 1
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drugs_alcohol 0
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weapons 0
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theft 0
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life_taken 0
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money_wanted (null)
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coin_type (null)
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reports NYT, CBC
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notes investors kidnapped scammer who enjoyed lavish lifestyle on their expense
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has_processed_date 0
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created_at 2025-11-13 05:44:45
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(flag legend: 'kidnappings' is the DETENTION flag — 1 when the victim was held against
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their will at any point, tied, locked in, held at gunpoint or taken away; it is NOT the
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same as the 'Kidnapping' scenario, which means taken away and held. See README, Definitions.)
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AI SUMMARY [generated at bulk import, NOT verified against sources]
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**Victim:** Aiden Pleterski
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**Attackers:** Unknown number of perpetrators
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**Attack Method:** Kidnapping for ransom
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**Violence Used:** Torture, physical assault
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**Crypto Stolen:** No theft completed
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**Status:** Investigation ongoing
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LINKED SOURCES
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[url] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/world/canada/crypto-king-aiden-pleterski-kidnapping-arrest.html
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NOTES ON THIS FILE
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* matched to sheet row 142: exact match on victim + year, unique on both sides
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ARTICLE 1
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Source NYT, CBC
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URL https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/world/canada/crypto-king-aiden-pleterski-kidnapping-arrest.html
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Origin reported_K&R sheet, row 142, column "Articles"
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Length 7,072 chars
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Trimmed site furniture removed on review; kept text is verbatim. Full original (7,138 chars) archived, sha256 43640477cb27270d9246bced93dff1c7994db49a6b1d986c69c6dcb6dadab1a1
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Investor Charged With Kidnapping ‘Crypto King’
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Aiden Pleterski is accused of spending investors’ money on luxury cars and vacations before filing for bankruptcy, according to court records. Then he was kidnapped by one of his investors, police say.
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Aiden Pleterski was beaten by his kidnappers, court records said. Credit...CBC News
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By Jesus Jiménez
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July 20, 2023
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Late one night in early December, Aiden Pleterski, a self-proclaimed “Crypto King,” was kidnapped, then beaten and tortured over three days, according to court records.
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Eventually, his kidnappers — including one of his investors — let him go, but they left him with a threat: Pay up fast and don’t go to the police, court records said.
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This week, Akil Heywood, 39, who had invested with Mr. Pleterski, 24, was charged with kidnapping him. The Toronto Police Service said in a statement on Monday that it had arrested and charged four men on counts of kidnapping for ransom and other charges: Mr. Heywood, Tyler Fast, 37, and Deren Akyeam-Pong, 24, all of Toronto, as well as Rakeem Henry, 24, of London.
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Mr. Heywood was among dozens who invested with Mr. Pleterski, who was supposed to invest their money in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange positions, according to court documents. But after spending money feeding a lavish lifestyle, buying three Lamborghinis and three McLarens, Mr. Pleterski filed for bankruptcy in August, leaving investors wondering what had happened to their money.
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Mr. Heywood, who did not respond to requests for comment this week, had filed a claim for losing $740,000 that he had invested with Mr. Pleterski, according to Grant Thornton, the appointed trustee in the bankruptcy case. It was unclear whether the three other men charged in the kidnapping had also invested with Mr. Pleterski.
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Here’s what to know about Mr. Pleterski, his kidnapping and his bankruptcy filing.
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A kidnapping in the middle of the night.
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The Toronto Police Service said they were alerted about a missing person in the downtown Toronto area on Dec. 5. The victim in the kidnapping was “lured into a vehicle by the suspects,” and that once he was inside, two men pointed firearms at him, the police said.
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The Toronto police did not name Mr. Pleterski when they announced the arrests, but court documents indicate that it was Mr. Pleterski who had been kidnapped on the night of Dec. 5.
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The suspects “demanded a large amount of Canadian currency, and the victim’s life and family were threatened,” the police said.
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The victim was “held captive” for three days while he was taken to several places, where he was assaulted, the police said. At one point over the three days, the police said, a firearm was discharged, but they did not say whether anyone was injured as a result.After three days, the victim was let go in the downtown Toronto area, the police said.
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In a court interview in December, Dragan Pleterski, Mr. Pleterski’s father, said that while he was kidnapped, his son was beaten and tortured, and that he was allowed to make phone calls only to specific people.
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“I was not one of those people that he was allowed to contact,” Mr. Pleterski said. “He was released with the threat that he needed to come up with some money fast, and if he had went to the police, that there would be a lot more trouble.”
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An investigation prompted the arrest of the four men in early July, one of whom had a loaded handgun, the police said.
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Mr. Heywood was arrested on July 5 and was released on bail. Mr. Fast was also released on bail.
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As of Wednesday, Mr. Henry had not had a bail hearing, and Mr. Akyeam-Pong was detained after his bail hearing, according to the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.
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Mr. Henry did not respond to requests for comment this week. Mr. Akyeam-Pong and Mr. Fast could not be reached, and it was unclear whether they had lawyers.
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Who is Aiden Pleterski?
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Mr. Pleterski, a “self-described ‘Crypto King,’” ran AP Private Equity Limited as an investment business, according to court documents.
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Mr. Pleterski did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Micheal Simaan, a lawyer for Mr. Pleterski, declined to comment on Wednesday.
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Mr. Pleterski attended Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, to study cybersecurity, according to a court interview he did for his bankruptcy case in November before he was kidnapped.
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In the interview, Mr. Pleterski said that he did not receive formal education in investing, cryptocurrencies, financial markets or foreign currency markets. Mr. Pleterski said that he started investing in cryptocurrency markets when he was about 16 or 17 after using cryptocurrency while playing videos games.
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“That’s what piqued my interest,” he said, adding that “around the same time on social media, that’s when I started seeing some individuals, as well, posting luxury cars, posting luxury lifestyles.”
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Mr. Pleterski said that he started investing with a few thousand dollars he had received from family members, including birthday money, and umpiring baseball games.
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“The majority of the money came from family members,” he said in the interview.
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Three McLarens, two Lamborghinis and three Audis
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Mr. Pleterski incorporated AP Private Equity Limited on Dec. 13, 2021, according to court documents. Around that time, he started looking for people to invest in cryptocurrencies and foreign markets.
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Several people, including Mr. Heywood, invested millions with Mr. Pleterski. According to court documents, Mr. Pleterski raised about $41.5 million from investors, but he invested only 1.6 percent of that money, “meaning that 98.4% of what Pleterski collected was never invested.”
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Instead, Mr. Pleterski spent about $15.9 million on “elaborate vacations,” private jet rentals and several luxury vehicles, including three McLarens, two Lamborghinis, three Audis and two BMWs, according to court documents.
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A banking analysis found that “the extravagant lifestyle that Pleterski lived, which was funded by his investors,” had “ultimately led to his bankruptcy,” court records said.
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More than 150 creditors have filed claims against Mr. Pleterski in the bankruptcy case, according to Grant Thornton.
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Mr. Pleterski appeared beaten in a video.
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In a video received this week by CBC Toronto, a visibly beaten Mr. Pleterski apologized to investors and provided a timeline of what had happened to the money they lost. It is unclear when the video was taken, but Mr. Pleterski’s lawyer told the news outlet that his kidnappers had forced him to speak.
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“When the crypto market started to tank in November of 2021, I should have been honest with everybody,” Mr. Pleterski said in the video, adding that he had lost about $45 million in the crypto market within a month.
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“I lost enough to where my debts outweighed my assets,” he said, adding later in the video that he wanted to “make it right for everybody.”
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“I’m going to do it before I go and buy myself another car, before I go and buy myself another watch, before I go and buy myself expensive clothing or anything,” Mr. Pleterski said. “I’m going to live on the bare minimum until every last soul is paid back.”
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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FETCHED ARTICLE 1 [AUTO-TRIMMED — UNREVIEWED]
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!! Furniture was cut by a script keyed on this case's record, not by a person.
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!! It may still carry passages about OTHER cases from a round-up article.
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!! The full page extract is kept in staging/ if a cut needs revisiting.
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Source nytimes.com
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URL https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/world/canada/crypto-king-aiden-pleterski-kidnapping-arrest.html
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Field url
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Retrieved 2026-09-05T13:30:07+00:00 via Wayback Machine snapshot 20251027080145, deterministic extraction (HTTP None)
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Language unknown
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Kept paragraphs headline [0] + 3-40 of 41
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Length 6,861 chars
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Integrity sha256 f63a0f58f53e5888e2155dc960d7d6d892ed79a62919ea50164b6804eb249af7
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Trimmed AUTO-TRIMMED, unreviewed: kept paragraphs 3-40 plus headline [0]; dropped 2 leading and 0 trailing paragraphs. Case-term hits on page: 39.
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Note live URL was BLOCKED on the first pass; text comes from an archived copy dated 2025-10-27
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Archive http://web.archive.org/web/20251027080145/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/world/canada/crypto-king-aiden-pleterski-kidnapping-arrest.html
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Caveat retrieved from a Wayback Machine snapshot, not the live page. The
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snapshot date is in the method line; the live URL was unreadable.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)
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Investor Charged With Kidnapping ‘Crypto King’ - The New York Times
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Late one night in early December, Aiden Pleterski, a self-proclaimed “Crypto King,” was kidnapped, then beaten and tortured over three days, according to court records.
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Eventually, his kidnappers — including one of his investors — let him go, but they left him with a threat: Pay up fast and don’t go to the police, court records said.
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This week, Akil Heywood, 39, who had invested with Mr. Pleterski, 24, was charged with kidnapping him. The Toronto Police Service said in a statement on Monday that it had arrested and charged four men on counts of kidnapping for ransom and other charges: Mr. Heywood, Tyler Fast, 37, and Deren Akyeam-Pong, 24, all of Toronto, as well as Rakeem Henry, 24, of London.
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Mr. Heywood was among dozens who invested with Mr. Pleterski, who was supposed to invest their money in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange positions, according to court documents. But after spending money feeding a lavish lifestyle, buying three Lamborghinis and three McLarens, Mr. Pleterski filed for bankruptcy in August, leaving investors wondering what had happened to their money.
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Mr. Heywood, who did not respond to requests for comment this week, had filed a claim for losing $740,000 that he had invested with Mr. Pleterski, according to Grant Thornton, the appointed trustee in the bankruptcy case. It was unclear whether the three other men charged in the kidnapping had also invested with Mr. Pleterski.
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Here’s what to know about Mr. Pleterski, his kidnapping and his bankruptcy filing.
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A kidnapping in the middle of the night.
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The Toronto Police Service said they were alerted about a missing person in the downtown Toronto area on Dec. 5. The victim in the kidnapping was “lured into a vehicle by the suspects,” and that once he was inside, two men pointed firearms at him, the police said.
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The Toronto police did not name Mr. Pleterski when they announced the arrests, but court documents indicate that it was Mr. Pleterski who had been kidnapped on the night of Dec. 5.
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The suspects “demanded a large amount of Canadian currency, and the victim’s life and family were threatened,” the police said.
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The victim was “held captive” for three days while he was taken to several places, where he was assaulted, the police said. At one point over the three days, the police said, a firearm was discharged, but they did not say whether anyone was injured as a result.
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After three days, the victim was let go in the downtown Toronto area, the police said.
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In a court interview in December, Dragan Pleterski, Mr. Pleterski’s father, said that while he was kidnapped, his son was beaten and tortured, and that he was allowed to make phone calls only to specific people.
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“I was not one of those people that he was allowed to contact,” Mr. Pleterski said. “He was released with the threat that he needed to come up with some money fast, and if he had went to the police, that there would be a lot more trouble.”
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An investigation prompted the arrest of the four men in early July, one of whom had a loaded handgun, the police said.
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Mr. Heywood was arrested on July 5 and was released on bail. Mr. Fast was also released on bail.
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As of Wednesday, Mr. Henry had not had a bail hearing, and Mr. Akyeam-Pong was detained after his bail hearing, according to the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.
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Mr. Henry did not respond to requests for comment this week. Mr. Akyeam-Pong and Mr. Fast could not be reached, and it was unclear whether they had lawyers.
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Who is Aiden Pleterski?
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Mr. Pleterski, a “self-described ‘Crypto King,’” ran AP Private Equity Limited as an investment business, according to court documents.
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Mr. Pleterski did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Micheal Simaan, a lawyer for Mr. Pleterski, declined to comment on Wednesday.
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Mr. Pleterski attended Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, to study cybersecurity, according to a court interview he did for his bankruptcy case in November before he was kidnapped.
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In the interview, Mr. Pleterski said that he did not receive formal education in investing, cryptocurrencies, financial markets or foreign currency markets. Mr. Pleterski said that he started investing in cryptocurrency markets when he was about 16 or 17 after using cryptocurrency while playing videos games.
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“That’s what piqued my interest,” he said, adding that “around the same time on social media, that’s when I started seeing some individuals, as well, posting luxury cars, posting luxury lifestyles.”
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Mr. Pleterski said that he started investing with a few thousand dollars he had received from family members, including birthday money, and umpiring baseball games.
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“The majority of the money came from family members,” he said in the interview.
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Three McLarens, two Lamborghinis and three Audis
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Mr. Pleterski incorporated AP Private Equity Limited on Dec. 13, 2021, according to court documents. Around that time, he started looking for people to invest in cryptocurrencies and foreign markets.
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Several people, including Mr. Heywood, invested millions with Mr. Pleterski. According to court documents, Mr. Pleterski raised about $41.5 million from investors, but he invested only 1.6 percent of that money, “meaning that 98.4% of what Pleterski collected was never invested.”
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Instead, Mr. Pleterski spent about $15.9 million on “elaborate vacations,” private jet rentals and several luxury vehicles, including three McLarens, two Lamborghinis, three Audis and two BMWs, according to court documents.
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A banking analysis found that “the extravagant lifestyle that Pleterski lived, which was funded by his investors,” had “ultimately led to his bankruptcy,” court records said.
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More than 150 creditors have filed claims against Mr. Pleterski in the bankruptcy case, according to Grant Thornton.
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Mr. Pleterski appeared beaten in a video.
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In a video received this week by CBC Toronto, a visibly beaten Mr. Pleterski apologized to investors and provided a timeline of what had happened to the money they lost. It is unclear when the video was taken, but Mr. Pleterski’s lawyer told the news outlet that his kidnappers had forced him to speak.
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“When the crypto market started to tank in November of 2021, I should have been honest with everybody,” Mr. Pleterski said in the video, adding that he had lost about $45 million in the crypto market within a month.
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“I lost enough to where my debts outweighed my assets,” he said, adding later in the video that he wanted to “make it right for everybody.”
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“I’m going to do it before I go and buy myself another car, before I go and buy myself another watch, before I go and buy myself expensive clothing or anything,” Mr. Pleterski said. “I’m going to live on the bare minimum until every last soul is paid back.”
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Jesus Jiménez is a general assignment reporter.
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================================================================================================
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generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R | case 141
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================================================================================================
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