‘Crypto King’ associate wanted for arrest while claiming to be in Dubai

An alleged Ponzi scheme operator who reportedly funneled $4 million of his illicit earnings to Ontario’s self-proclaimed ‘Crypto King’ has been hit with an arrest warrant after he failed to hand over his passport while claiming to be in Dubai.

As reported by CTV, an Ontario judge found Ryan Rumble in contempt of court after he failed to hand over his passport by Dec 1 as ordered. He appeared virtually in the hearings and claimed to be in Dubai.

Rumble is facing a civil lawsuit accusing him of taking $14 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme and giving millions to ‘Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterksi. Pleterski is continuing to travel and gamble online despite facing a $40 million bankruptcy case.

Rumble reportedly said he could only pay his investors back by finding work in Dubai and claims to have secured a consultancy contract with a firm currently funding his stay. However, fraud litigators say there’s no evidence it’s a legitimate contract

Read more: Duped investors of Ontario ‘crypto king’ cause mansion sale reversal

Rumble apparently took offense to being deemed a flight risk by litigators, saying, “This is a civil matter, I haven’t done anything criminally wrong to anybody.”

A whistleblower who filed the initial complaint against Rumble’s company, Banknote Capital, reportedly witnessed a slide deck, seen by CTV, revealing that the company had $100 million plus in current assets under management. Rumble claims he can’t remember how the company came up with the funds. 

A 31-year-old mother joining the lawsuit told CTV that the warrant “helps to give us reassurance in the justice system that he won’t be able to run around the world with zero repercussions like Pleterski has.” She added, “Our fear would be that he’s over there and he’s dissipating assets.”

The court has ordered a province-wide arrest warrant for Rumble, and police have been asked to go to his house as soon as possible and arrest him if he’s present.  

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