A cannabis entrepreneur and his business associates are facing a case of fraud for allegedly swindling a group of investors out of a staggering R70-million meant for a business venture to produce and sell medical grade cannabis to the overseas market.
It is alleged that Willem van der Merwe and two of his business associates convinced international investors to pay €3.5-million in his cannabis business, Dacha Corporation. The funds were for the cultivation, harvest, packaging, and sale of medical cannabis.
Sunday World has seen documents, including a contract between the investors and Van der Merwe’s Dacha Corporation. It was agreed that payments to fund the venture would be split. A portion would be transferred into his South African bank account, and the other in crypto currency.
Moved investor money into wife’s bank account
According to the documents, as soon as money was transferred into his business account, Van der Merwe allegedly started moving investor money from his company account into his wife’s bank account. This was done in a series of payments.
In an interview earlier this year, Van der Merwe confirmed having received the €3.5-million. However, he insisted that he had handed the money to “German authorities” and denied taking it for himself, as alleged.
“That money is out of my hands. I handed it to German authorities because I could not confirm the origins of the money,” Van der Merwe said.
However, when asked about the bank transfers totaling an estimated R20-million to his wife’s account, Van der Merwe said: “What happens in my business is none of your concern.”
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed the matter. She said that a case of fraud had been registered at the Dieprivier Police Station in Cape Town.
“I can confirm that there is a case of fraud that was registered on the 15th of April. The case docket has been handed over to commercial crimes. But no one has been arrested yet,” said Mathe.
Local business associates implicated
The fraud case that has been opened with the SAPS also included Van der Merwe’s local business associates, Marianne Brown and Darren Smith.
When contacted for comment regarding Van der Merwe’s arrest and the confirmed fraud charge against him and his company, Brown said she had nothing to do with Van der Merwe. She said that she was consulting on his cannabis ventures in South Africa.
“I’m an independent consultant on one of the Dacha South Africa projects. I am unaware of any of the above. So therefore, I don’t have any comment,” she said.
Smith had not responded to questions sent to him last week regarding the arrest of Van der Merwe. He also did not respond to questions on the fraud charge that he faces together with Van der Merwe.
In another development, unconfirmed reports suggest that Van der Merwe is said to be among a group of people who were arrested in an international operation. The operation involves 11 countries, and they were nabbed for running a cannabis Ponzi scheme. More than 186,000 investors were allegedly defrauded of an estimated €654-million.
More nabbed by global anti-crime agency operations
Sources told the Sunday World that Van der Merwe was among nine suspects nabbed in a global operation by Europol two weeks ago.
Among those arrested were two German nationals: Graf and Stefan von Luxburg. The duo appear to be Van der Merwe’s close associates, according to documents.
The group that was arrested is believed to have masterminded the creation of an e-growing platform, JuicyFields. Investors would make a minimum investment of €50 in the production and sale of medical cannabis. The product would be grown by licensed growers around the world.
Two months after being appointed CEO, he resigned and shut down the platform.
Van der Merwe, who is currently living in Switzerland, was appointed CEO of Juicyfields in May 2022 and resigned in July of that year. This was just days before the platform shut down, with hundreds of millions of euros in investments vanishing.
Europol released a statement following its successful international operation. The agency said: “The widespread occurrence of police reports across Europe prompted Europol to initiate a coordinated approach for investigations involving multiple EU and non-EU countries.
“This law enforcement focus on JuicyFields and related investment platforms was followed by the establishment of a joint investigation team at Eurojust. [It was] led by the German and Spanish police, the French gendarmerie, and supported by Europol. [Also] the National Crime Agency of the UK and other law enforcement agencies from numerous Member States.
“After painstakingly piecing together breadcrumbs of digital evidence, investigators had drawn up a joint intelligence picture. This allowed police forces across Europe to initiate this wave of arrests.”
According to its mandate, Europol supports its member states in preventing and combating all forms of international and organised crime, cybercrime, and terrorism.
Fake cannabis cultivation investments amount to €645-million (globally)
The international crime-fighting agency said that the “total damages resulting from fake investments in the advertised cannabis cultivation crowdsourcing platform amount to a staggering €645 million.”
“But actual and unreported damages could be significantly higher. In total, an estimated 550,000 participants worldwide, most of them European citizens, were registered as online investors. Using bank transfers or cryptocurrencies, around 186,000 participants actually transferred funds into the elaborate Ponzi scheme active from early 2020 to July 2022,” said the law enforcement agency.
Almost 200 SA investors lost out
Sunday World can reveal that almost 200 South African investors on the JuicyFields e-growing platform have lost out on their investments.
This information forms part of the evidence that was handed over to law enforcement authorities in Europe.
The information seen by Sunday World also includes bank transfers from JuicyFields to a cashing company just days before Van der Merwe quit his position. According to the documents, money was allegedly also transferred to Van der Merwe.
Suspect lives in Switzerland, denies everything
In an interview earlier this year – speaking from his offices in Zurich, Switzerland – Van der Merwe denied any wrongdoing. He insisted that it was he who had supplied authorities with information against the founders of JuicyFields. This is what is dubbed the biggest cannabis investment scam in the world.
“Initially, more than 500,000 e-growers were receiving their investment returns. In July 2022, however, the criminals behind the scheme abruptly removed company profiles from social media networks. [They also] stopped users from logging in to their accounts, thus freezing cash withdrawals,” said Europol.
“During the investigation and action day, €4,700,000 in bank accounts and €1,515,000 in cryptocurrencies. €106,000 in cash and €2,600,000 in real estate assets were seized or frozen. Law enforcement also seized several luxury vehicles, works of art, cash, and various luxury items. In addition, large numbers of electronic devices and documents [were seized],” the organisation said in a statement.
