CAPE TOWN - THE Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), which previously warned the public against trading with crypto currency investment company MTI (Mirror Trading International, said yesterday that it was nearing the end of its investigation and had opened a criminal case against the company with the SAPS .
MTI, which has Cornelius Steynberg as its chief executive and assisted by Clynton Marks and Cheri Marks, first started trading in April 2019. The public were invited to register on the MTI website and move their Bitcoin from their Bitcoin wallet to MTI Bitcoin wallets. From the MTI Bitcoin wallet, the Bitcoin were then transferred to MTI’s forex platform “broker of choice” by the name of FXChoice.
“We have found no evidence of any significant store of Crypto assets on any trading platform and that most crypto balances appear in the name and under control of Steynberg. The amount of such balances is well below the advertised balance on the MTI trading platform as being due to investors of MTI,” the FSCA said in a statement yesterday.
“In the last few days, we received complaints that investors were unable to redeem their investments,” the FSCA said.
The authority said MTI was not licensed to conduct financial services and had not applied for such a licence.
“The authority believes that MTI and its senior management are conducting an illegal operation, misleading clients and have contravened several laws,” the FSCA said.
From August 2019, Steynberg claimed MTI employed a bot (high frequency artificial intelligence trading) together with a head trader and trading team to make all its trading decisions, with great success.
“The authority found evidence contradicting this assertion,” the FSCA said in a statement.
THE Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), which previously warned the public against trading with crypto currency investment company MTI (Mirror Trading International), said yesterday that it was nearing the end of its investigation and it had opened a criminal case against the company with the South African Police Services.
MTI, which has Cornelius Steynberg as its chief executive and assisted by Clynton Marks and Cheri Marks, first started trading in April 2019.
The public were invited to register on the MTI website and move their Bitcoin from their Bitcoin wallet to MTI Bitcoin wallets.
From the MTI Bitcoin wallet, the Bitcoin were then transferred to MTI’s forex platform “broker of choice” by the name of FXChoice.
“We have found no evidence of any significant store of crypto assets on any trading platform and that most crypto balances appear in the name and under control of Steynberg. The amount of such balances is well below the advertised balance on the MTI trading platform as being due to investors of MTI,” the FSCA said yesterday.
“In the last few days, we received complaints that investors were unable to redeem their investments,” the FSCA said.
The authority said MTI was not licensed to conduct financial services and had not applied for such a licence.
“The authority believes that MTI and its senior management are conducting an illegal operation, misleading clients and have contravened several laws,” the FSCA said.
From August 2019 Steynberg claimed MTI employed a bot (high frequency artificial intelligence trading) together with a head trader and trading team to make all its trading decisions.
BUSINESS REPORT