- The brother founders of the Africrypt exchange have been missing ever since the Africrypt scam took place around April 2021, where 69,000 BTCs vanished from the exchange, and founders tried to showcase it as a scam.
- This new investigation emerged when a Dubai-based investment organization reached out to investors related to the scam and offered to give a part back of the lost amount. Following this, investors demanded the arrest of the founder brothers.
- The total lost amount in the scam is still not known as related financial records are still being investigated. Also, the absence of regulation for cryptocurrencies might be a possible obstacle in the investigation of South African police.
The South African police are looking into a case of probable crypto scam following an incident where an investment organization tried to compensate investors from the Africrypt exchange, which now has been closed. As Bloomberg reported, the police forces of four provinces in South Africa, including Johannesburg & Durban, are investigating some reports from the Africrypt scam of 2021, which also involves co-founder brothers Ameer Cajee and Raess.
The claim says that the Pennython Project Management LLC, an investment organization based in Dubai, has been alleged to reach out and contact several out-of-pocket investors that were related to the exchange and tried to give them a chunk of the investment lost in the scam. The location of the founder brothers is not yet known, however, after the investors received the offer from Pennython to get back a part of the lost amount, they have now demanded the arrest of both Ameer Cajee & Raess.
Lost In Scam Still Remains Unknown!
The police investigations are going on currently, and the forces planned to work side-by-side with several scam victims to be precise in the investigation, the Deputy Colonel, Philani Nkwalase, explained. When Nkwalase was asked about the total value that was lost in the scam, he said that the concerning financial records are still being examined, therefore, the exact lost value is still not known.
What was the Africrypt Scam About?
Around April 2021, about 69,000 Bitcoins (BTC) were observed to vanish from the Africrypt exchange strangely. However, this could have meant a lot of things, but the noticeable suspicion arose when the platform’s Chief Operating Officer, Ameer Cajee, released a statement claiming that the scenario was a hack and requested its users not to report the issue to any responsible authorities, and the Cajee brothers have been missing ever since. Following the notice, the unsatisfied investors of the platform hired Hanekom Attorneys, a law firm, to investigate the incident. The Hanekom investigation discovered that the employees somehow lost access to the back-end seven days before the hack, after which the missing funds’ transactions were found to be done through mixers or some other massive pools of Bitcoin, making it far more difficult to be traced.
Lack Of Regulation Might Be An Obstacle
Since South Africa also lags in regulating policies for cryptocurrencies, it might emerge as an obstacle for South African police forces while investigating this Africrypt scam. Brandon Topham, the FSCA’s (Finance Sector Conduct Authority) head of enforcement in 2021, said that cryptocurrencies are not subjected to the category of known financial products. However, plans for a regulatory framework design introduction have been announced by the FSCA, which would serve the safety of cryptocurrency holders of South Africa.
Increasing Popularity Of Cryptocurrencies In Africa
This isn’t surprising looking at the fact that cryptocurrencies are getting more popular every day simultaneously, followed by adoption, which is causing constantly increasing hacks and scams in the industry. As per some data by Chainalysis, cryptocurrency adoption surged massively by 1,200% in 2021. Also, a survey by Luno, a cryptocurrency organization based in London, revealed that about 50% of Africans make investments in cryptocurrencies to pay for educating their children. It is one of the other indicators of how cryptocurrencies are growing and being adopted in Africa.