The South African company AfriCrypt disappeared with the amount of 69 thousand bitcoins.
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June
25, 2021
2 min read
And my investment? In mid-April, investors from AfriCrypt , a South African crypto investment company, received an email explaining that the platform was closing due to a massive hacking of all their electronic accounts and wallets, which would remain frozen.
But, oh surprise! The founders reportedly transferred the funds from a Johannesburg First National Bank (FNB) account and disappeared, according to Bloomberg . Since then, brothers Ameer and Raees Cajee have not answered calls. Young people of 20 and 17 years old disappeared with 69,000 bitcoins, that is, about 3.6 billion dollars.
The notice in the email implored investors not to take legal action, as the company would take care of resolving the situation, which at first glance seemed suspicious.
Hanekom Attorneys, the South African law firm handling the case, explains that the funds passed through so many filters and portals on the dark web that they have been impossible to trace.
The events were reported to the South African police specializing in tax crimes called the Hawks. Although the Supreme Court of Gauteng, South Africa, granted a liquidation order against the brothers, the government’s ability to investigate will be limited by the lack of a legal framework regulating these types of digital assets.
Although this fact has yet to be proven in court, it could be the largest scam in the history of cryptocurrencies, according to Bloomberg.