By Shelly Melancon (Switzerland)
A Bitcoin heist has occurred in South Africa via a South African-based investment platform run by two brothers, Ameer and Raees Cajee which saw them cart away a staggering 69,000 Bitcoin equivalent to $3.6 billion. Africrypt Investment promised investors 10% daily returns on their investments. However, the two brothers have eloped leaving most of the platform’s investors bankrupt. This latest stunt is alleged to be the largest Bitcoin heist in history, although facts relating to the incident are yet to be confirmed.
Africrypt Investment was established in 2019 by the Cajee brothers. However, trouble started brewing when the brothers claimed that the platform had been hacked. This happened in April 2021 when the price of Bitcoin jumped to the all-time-high (ATH) of $64,493. Unfortunately, it was at that time that the Cajee brothers had fled with the said amount, which is also about 54 billion in South African Rand. Investors were required to send funds to a South African account provided by Africrypt Investment which were then used to purchase Bitcoin and mixed with other transactions to allay suspicions.
Latest Scam Surpasses MTI Heist, Experts Assert
Experts have posited the latest heist dwarfs the one pulled by Mirror Trading International (MTI), a similar investment scam that launched some years before Africrypt’s. At the time, investors sent Bitcoin purchased to a BTC address issued by the phoney firm. While investors were still bemoaning their losses on MTI, they have been hit by another. According to reports, several high-profile figures and celebrities are victims of the latest scam. Experts are confused as to how the Cajee brothers were able to lure them into the investment. MTI had promised 10% monthly while Africrypt promised to pay investors daily returns of 10% and this went on for 20 months until the alleged hack.
The funds were transferred to an address before they absconded to the UK. In many of their presentations, 21-year-old Raees had claimed that he first heard about Bitcoin while watching TV with his grandfather and began crypto trading at an early age. He further said he built an AI trading bot and that the firm was able to mine 100,000 Ethereum with home-based computers, which is utterly impossible. Both brothers had been posting pictures of luxury houses and cars on social media, which experts believe must have attracted celebrities and other dignitaries to the platform.
As soon as the alleged hack occurred, the firm issued a notice to all investors enjoining them to be patient while it recovers the stolen funds and investors’ data. In the notice, they had further advised investors against taking legal actions as it would disrupt the recovery process and make it take longer than necessary. Owing to this, investors were forced to back down, giving the brothers enough time to transfer the funds in fractions to another account and flee the country. A week before the hack happened, employees of the firm were unable to access the site’s database. Reports indicate that the firm’s site is currently down.
FNB Bank Absolves Itself of Culpability
The South African accounts run by Africrypt Investment were domiciled with South African Bank, FNB. According to reports, investors transferred funds to the accounts, however, the bank has denied any affiliation with Africrypt, further saying that it is unable to provide any information concerning the accounts due to clients’ confidentiality. South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FCSA) claimed that it does not believe Africrypt offered any financial products, and as such, it does not have any standing in the case.
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