The basketball star, the Crypto King and the $8.4M mansion
CBC
A couple of days after Canadian professional basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander moved into his $8.4 million lakefront mansion this spring, he allegedly received a threatening visit from a stranger demanding the whereabouts of Ontario's self-proclaimed Crypto King: Aiden Pleterski.
Pleterski, 24, had previously been leasing to own the Burlington, Ont., property for about $45,000 a month — until his cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment operation unravelled last year as investors came looking for the more than $40 million they'd given him.
Gilgeous-Alexander claims he'd never heard of Pleterski before the man showed up at his door.
The 25-year-old is a guard with the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. He placed fifth in regular season MVP voting last season and more recently led the Canadian men's national team to its first Olympic berth since 2000.
It wasn't until Gilgeous-Alexander's girlfriend called the police and discovered there had been several previous reports of threats at the home — including a threat to burn it down — that they started to learn about Pleterski's history with the property, according to court records.
The couple moved out immediately — and within a month, Gilgeous-Alexander's lawyers filed a lawsuit to try to void the sale. They claim the sellers fraudulently misrepresented the luxury home by failing to disclose an alleged series of threatening visits to the property — happening daily, at times — by those looking for Pleterski before Gilgeous-Alexander bought it.
"The defendants knew that if the history of threatening visits to the property, and ongoing risk of same, was disclosed, then no reasonable person looking at properties of that type, quality, and price would purchase it," reads the statement of claim.
In an email, a lawyer for the sellers said their clients deny there was any misrepresentation to the purchaser, but wouldn't comment further because they're awaiting a judgment in the case.
Gilgeous-Alexander and his lawyer also declined to comment because the case is before the courts.
The Toronto-born NBA player's lawsuit is just the latest twist in a more than year-long CBC Toronto investigation into Ontario's Crypto King, which has also included a search for millions in investor funds and the arrest of one his investors for allegedly kidnapping him last December.
Pleterski's bankruptcy proceeding found evidence that he invested about two per cent of investor funds while spending nearly $16 million on himself — renting private jets, going on vacations, adding luxury cars to his collection and leasing to own the Burlington property.
Pleterski entered into a lease-to-own agreement for the property with a numbered company controlled by Ray Gupta, founder of the hotel and development company Sunray Group, and his son, Sandeep Gupta, in March 2021, according to court and bankruptcy records.
Sandeep Gupta acted as Pleterski's landlord while he lived in the 10,000-square-foot lakefront mansion.
Social media posts from that time showcase some of the luxury vehicles Pleterski owned or leased — more than a dozen in total — that were ultimately seized in his bankruptcy proceeding.
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