June 28, 2021, | AtoZ Markets – The founders of the bankrupt crypto investment firm Africrypt, Raees, and Ameer Cajee has "vehemently denied" allegations of defrauding clients. They attributed the crash to a hacker attack, writes the BBC.
Lawyer John Oosthuizen, who represents the brothers' interests, said that his clients did not file a report with the police after the incident. They allegedly received physical threats and decided to protect themselves and their families, the lawyer added.
He declared the brothers' readiness to cooperate with the investigation after receiving a notification but did not disclose their whereabouts. Oosthuizen called the accusations against the Africrypt leadership groundless.
In April, the firm abruptly shut down after reporting a hack to the trading system. According to its representatives, the cyberattack affected customer accounts, wallets, and nodes.
$3.6 billion in Bitcoin disappears with Africrypt founders
According to a report from Bloomberg, user funds in the company's funds amounted to $3.6 billion. After the alleged hack, Raees, and Ameer transferred their bitcoin investments to their wallets, journalists said.
An anonymous investor interviewed by the BBC stated that the losses suffered were much lower than the announced amount. The broadcaster also cited an archive of the Africrypt website, which lists the firm's AUM of $100 million as of January 2021.
Read also: 5 Common Bitcoin scams to avoid
As a reminder, the intergovernmental working group of South Africa has proposed to tighten the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry in the country.
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