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One of self-proclaimed “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski’s investors, who’s set to stand trial this fall for allegedly orchestrating his kidnapping, has been charged with a dozen more offences, including for allegedly meddling in a co-accused’s case.
Akil Heywood, 42, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Pleterski and was charged last month with attempting to dissuade Deren Akyeam-Pong — who pleaded guilty in the kidnapping — from giving evidence in a judicial proceeding on Nov. 3, 2025, according to court records.
That is the same day an Ontario Superior Court judge lifted a temporary publication ban on the agreed statement of facts tied to Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea for Pleterski’s 2022 kidnapping.
Akyeam-Pong pleaded guilty to nine charges in the case, including kidnapping, assault and various gun charges in October 2025. Through his lawyer, Akyeam-Pong declined to comment on the new charge against Heywood.
Some of Heywood’s other recent charges concern him allegedly fleeing the scene of a street racing crash in Scarborough last month, which injured four people, including an infant. Toronto police say Heywood was in a green Lamborghini SUV racing a Mercedes when the Mercedes lost control and hit a truck. Heywood was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to stop at the scene of a crash and stunt racing.
He was arrested for Pleterski’s kidnapping in July 2023 and released on bail. None of the charges against Heywood have been tested in court. His trial for the kidnapping and attempted extortion of Pleterski is scheduled for November alongside two other accused.
Heywood’s lawyer, Domenic Basile, did not respond to requests for comment. Heywood previously told CBC News he’s innocent in connection to the kidnapping.
‘Crypto King’ tortured during kidnapping: court records
Pleterski thought he was meeting with a potential investor on Dec. 5, 2022, when a gun was pressed into his ribs in the backseat of a pickup truck in Toronto. The abduction, allegedly orchestrated by Heywood, was the beginning of a three-day-long kidnapping during which Pleterski was threatened at gunpoint and tortured, according to the agreed statement of facts in Akyeam-Pong’s case.
Ontario’s self-proclaimed “Crypto King” suffered several injuries — including a gash to his head — during a three-day long kidnapping in 2022. Warning: This story contains distressing details about torture and graphic images.
The torture included waterboarding, cigarette burns and being beaten with golf clubs as his captors drove him between several locations in southern Ontario before eventually releasing Pleterski in downtown Toronto.
CBC News has reported extensively on Pleterski since the summer of 2022, when he was forced into bankruptcy by some of his investors.
At the time of his kidnapping, Pleterski was a few months into that proceeding, which was trying to recover more than $40 million given to him to invest in cryptocurrency and foreign currencies. Only about $3 million has since been recovered for roughly 160 investors through the bankruptcy, which also determined that Pleterski spent $16 million on himself.
Heywood orchestrated the kidnapping to try to recover the money he thought he was owed, offering to pay Akyeam-Pong and two other men to carry out the kidnapping, according to the agreed statement of facts in Akyeam-Pong’s case.
In May 2024, Pleterski was arrested by Durham Regional Police and charged with fraud and money laundering related to the funds he took from investors. Those charges have not yet been tested in court.
Pleterski’s trial is set for October in Toronto.
