Johannesburg – Founders of South Africa-based crypto investment firm AfriCrypt have disappeared along with 69,000 bitcoins, worth an estimated $3.6 billion (about R51 billion).
Investors were allegedly told to not report the hack to law enforcement, which the founders claimed would slow the recovery process.
The AfriCrypt founders, Ameer Cajee, 17, and his brother, Raees Cajee, 20, allegedly transferred the invested pooled funds from a South African account before fleeing to the UK.
Hanekom Attorneys are representing the investors, involved in one of the world’s largest known cryptocurrency scams.
Darren Hanekom of Hanekom Attorneys told Moneyweb, it is unlikely all these funds came from South Africans, saying it was more likely a money-laundering operation for international players, of which the Cajees were just a part.
Hanekom, said the funds were “subjected to various dark web tumblers and mixers, resulting in severe fragmentation.“ In other words, the funds were virtually untraceable.
Hanekom Attorneys said they have alerted various global exchanges about the alleged theft in a bid to watch out for efforts to convert the bitcoins.
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