'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski testifies he was beaten, tortured during alleged kidnapping

I'm begging you! I'm begging you! That's Aiden Ploturski in December 2022, apparently held by kidnappers. As Ploturski begs for his life, a man appears to fire a gun near his head. Three men, Akeel Haywood, Alfredo Palladino and Rakeem Henry, are all charged with kidnapping and extorting Ploturski over the course of three days. In court, Ploturski shared his account of what happened. Haywood, he said, had invested more than $300,000 with Ploturski. When Ploturski started losing investor money, he says the relationship with Haywood turned toxic, with Haywood threatening him in texts and phone calls. Then, on December 5th, 2022, Ploturski said he was kidnapped by three men. Two of them, he said, were Palladino and Henry. And he says the kidnappers made a phone call to Haywood, who said, quote, you're either going to... You're going to pay with your money, or you're going to pay with your life. Ploturski described being driven west of Toronto, being repeatedly beaten and tortured as the kidnappers demanded money. As well as begging for his life on his hands and knees, he says he was also waterboarded and put in the back of a pickup truck for hours. He described later being driven to Pickering and taken into a basement with bags over his head. Later in that basement, he said he was recorded making a forced confession. I'm sorry. I really am. Including saying he had assets hidden with his former landlord, Sandeep Gupta. Sandeep still has approximately between 1 to 1.5 in liquid assets. Ploturski said in court he told his kidnappers that Gupta had money because he hoped if they set up a meeting with Gupta, that Gupta could help him and alert police. And he testified Gupta did not actually have the money. All three of the accused have pleaded not guilty. Ploturski will be back in the witness box next week, including for cross-examination by the lawyers for the three accused. The trial resumes Monday. Sarah McMillan, CBC News, Toronto.