Dishonest.wiki

7k

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 03:48:22 +0000

A pseudo-affiliate MLM scam. Latest addition to the affiliates team is Vick Strizheus and includes Sean Logan and Scott Smith.

In the Media

7K Metals Review 2.0: Coin of the month autoship pseudo-compliance - BehindMLM
7K Metals Review: Coin of the month autoship recruitment - BehindMLM

341_beyers_naude_drive

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 06:28:45 +0000

341 Beyers Naude Drive

341 Beyers Naude Drive, Johannesburg, is an address in South Africa that many Ponzi schemes & dodgy businesses has used at their HQ.

Some of these companies and known activity include:

The 90 day Challenge where Cheri Ward and Clynton Hugh Marks was invoved in.

Andrew Caw from Syntek days with his Team ABlaze.

Andrew's mother, Lesley Caw, his account in MTI, attended the site during BTC Global days, prompting the idea that there was an office there for Andrew.

Ngqabutho Don Nkomo presumably taking delivery of a BMW X5 at 341 Beyers Naude Drive. Take note of the Mirror Trading International logo in this picture

MTI's registered address at one point:

The office has been closed since 14.12.2020. The contact for the office is believed to be Don Nkomo.

adrian_pilling

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 09:22:15 +0000

Adrian Pilling

Bio

Known participant in presentations for Karatbars,as part of Team GiHugeness (linked to Andrew Eaton Bruce Hughes and Brendon Earp-Jones)¹⁾

Known Schemes

¹⁾ , ²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

africrypt

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 08:06:12 +0000

Africrypt

Africrypt is described as an investment site in the Crypto space utilizing advanced AI Trading.

Background

Official name	Africrypt
Website	http://www.africrypt.io
Launched	July 2019
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi MLM
Type of Exit	Hacking

Info

Started by Raees Cajee (CEO and founder) and Ameer Cajee (Chief Operating Officer). Reporting consistent Positive returns with 0 losses,between 3% and 13%¹⁾ Africrypt has officially collapsed as of 14 April 2021²⁾.

People Involved

Adrian Pilling

aimeegleeson

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 15:53:01 +0000

Companies Involved In

¹⁾

Facebook Profile

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

aintree

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 07:58:45 +0000

A Ponzi promising undeliverable returns on investment¹⁾.

Registered address - 90 Greenlane Road East, Remuera, Auckland, 1051 , New Zealand

Website - https://www.aintreefinance-ltd.com/

¹⁾

aivizion

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 12:19:05 +0000

AI Vizion

Information

A corporate identity that promotes multiple scams started by André Jacques Erasmus¹⁾, previously known as Compound360Forex²⁾. JP Erasmus is listed as the MTI referral link.³⁾

The scheme was also heavily promoted by Denver Smit⁴⁾.

SILENT WITHDRAWAL

AIVizion silently withdrew itself for a period from the market following the collapse of MTI⁵⁾.

Companies Promoted

Crowd1
MTI
SPIZER8X
CashFX
CBI
CMC Trading
Finalmente
AIVTradeX - the page is titled copy of MTI.

In the Media

Facebook Account - Facebook
AI Vizion - AI Vizion

andrejerasmus

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:13:49 +0000

André Jacques Erasmus¹⁾ started AI Vizion, previously known as Compound360Forex²⁾.

Companies Promoted

Crowd1
MTI
CashFX
Finalmente
AIVTradeX - the page is titled copy of MTI.

In the Media

Facebook Account - Facebook
AI Vizion - AI Vizion

¹⁾

Facebook

²⁾

Facebook

andrew_lomax

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 05:13:10 +0000

MTI VP who assisted Peter Muller - MTI Issues¹⁾.

Was also part of MMM²⁾.

Has since wiped his YouTube channel of all MTI references³⁾.

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

andrewcaw

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 19:55:24 +0000

Andrew Caw

Date of birth: 21 October 1983

Company Links

Previous Schemes Involved In

MTI⁵⁾
BTC Global⁶⁾
Syntek Global - Team Ablaze⁷⁾
MyDailyChoice - Director for MDC South Africa⁸⁾
Vizionary

Trouble With The Law

It was reported that The Hawks were investigating a link between BTC Global and Bitcaw Trading.

Bitcaw Trading responded by threatening to sue The Hawks, a letter of demand delivered commented that:

“Should the Hawks not retract their contention that the two companies are one and the same, and post the retraction by close of business on Tuesday, “our instructions are to approach the South Gauteng High Court on an urgent basis in order to enforce our clients’ rights”⁹⁾.

Andrew previously ran Gadgetman with one of his brothers¹⁰⁾. The site now redirects to Coinbuyers Club. Gadgetman was registered to Cawzez CC. From his Flickr album, we also find a link to the username Cawzez - which can be found here on a local BTC buyer's website¹¹⁾.

Andrew was also used as the independent BTC contractor to communicate with MTI's trader, Trade300¹²⁾.

In the News

Andrew Caw and Bitcaw Tech Central
BTC Global Team Ponzi collapses, admin in denial? - BehindMLM

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

https://scambusters.net.za/btc-global/

⁷⁾

⁸⁾

⁹⁾

Bitcoin Firm Threatens Hawks with Damages Suit - Tech Central

¹⁰⁾

¹¹⁾

¹²⁾

andreweaton

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 00:34:18 +0000

Andrew Eaton

Bio

Andrew Eaton is a career multilevel marketing (MLM) promotor having been involved in Lifestyle Galaxy, Karatbars and the Karatbars reboot FreeBay and GSPartners. He is member of a team called GiHugeness, that at its top consists of Andrew Eaton, Bruce Hughes and Brendon Earp-Jones

Personal Life

Andrew is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and considers himself a conservative pro-lifer. He holds strong anti-vax beliefs and did not achieve a single distinction in high school.

Legal Threats

Eaton is listed as a plaintiff in a civil case against a South African YouTube Channel and other individuals. Eaton and other plaintiffs seek compensation for defamation and loss of income suffered as a promotor of GSPartners. As of 2023, the case is still ongoing.

On the 29th of June 2022, Andrew along with his cronies sent a legal threat from Otto Krause Attorneys demanding we remove the information we have on them (https://dishonest.wiki/pdf/letter_1.pdf) - On the 4th of August 2022 a second letter was sent (https://dishonest.wiki/pdf/letter_2.pdf).

Previous Schemes

YOBSN
Skill Dragon
DragonMine
Lifestyle Galaxy
Karatbars which imploded
Freebay
Gold Standard Bank Facebook video of such affiliation.
G999
GSPartners

Eaton and Tony de Gouveia on promotional material for the 2019 Karatbars convention in Johannesburg.

Eaton speaking at a Karatbars convention.

G999

Social media posts

Eaton incriminated himself in a now-deleted Facebook post. When questioned about his GSPartners debit card he replied the following.

"Chris Scanlon is a great guy! I use his card every day. 
Not sure what your point is but I think you may be referring to his legal case in the US? 
I cant (sic) comment on that because that's his business and not ours, 
but I can tell you I use the card legally every day everywhere I go. 
Thank you for not hating me though. Means alot. (sic)

Christopher James Scanlon was arrested by US authorities at Miami International Airport on Thursday, 25 May 2023 for running an “unlicensed money transmitting business”.¹⁾

Paid articles

In a Yahoo Finance article, published on 26 July 2023, Eaton describes himself as “… a co-founding member of GSPartners”²⁾.

In another advertorial in Forbes Australia, Eaton describes himself as “…a co-founding member and top five earner of GS Partners.”³⁾

Social media links

¹⁾

Businessman Charged with Conspiring to Own Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business | https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/businessman-charged-conspiring-own-unlicensed-money-transmitting-business

²⁾

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gspartners-launches-digital-platform-paving-030900423.html | GSPartners Launches New Digital Platform, Paving the Way for Enhanced Entrepreneurial Success

³⁾

From Corporate to Global Entrepreneur: Andrew Eaton’s Triumph | https://www.forbes.com.au/brand-voice/uncategorized/from-corporate-to-global-entrepreneur-andrew-eatons-triumph

anitree

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 07:37:14 +0000

A Ponzi promising unbelievable high returns¹⁾ being punted on the MTI Rag Telegram group²⁾.

Registered address - Cl 186 No. 52A-29, C.P 11001, Bogotá, Colombia.

Website - https://anitreefinance.com/?a=plan

¹⁾

²⁾

anthonychis

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 03:20:08 +0000

Promoter of MTI.

bahri_kilicaslan

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:01:01 +0000

Bahri Kilicaslan

Bahri Kilicaslan is a Turkish individual from Bursa, Turkey. He is involved in cybercrime related activities including brute-force attacks and allegedly hosting ransomware.

In 2022, Kilicaslan had some of his online servers terminated as a result of their criminal activities. He claims this termination was unjust and claims to have spent almost two years trying to seek justice.

“I have voiced it on every platform I have seen for 2 years” - Kilicaslan in 2024, on the popular hosting discussion forum, LowEndTalk.

Despite posting screenshots of him admitting to the alleged crimes, he insists that he did not commit a crime.

Sources: https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/196484/hostslick-scam

belindavanzyl

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 18:35:36 +0000

Belinda Van Zyl

Bio

Belinda van Zyl is the mother of Cheri Ward, Vincent "Vince" Ward and Charles "Charlie" Ward. It is believed she resides in Naboomspruit, Limpopo, South Africa.

Previous Schemes

Syntek Global¹⁾
Mirror Trading International²⁾

References & links

Facebook

¹⁾

²⁾

bell

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 03:26:54 +0000

Brothers who were part of the Founders Club of MTI.

The Bell Family Trust appears in the Paradise Papers.

bernard_swanevelder

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 15:50:51 +0000

Bernard Swanevelder is an influencer who has appeared on at least two MTI¹⁾²⁾ presentations as a guest speaker and who actively promotes passive income streams.

He promotes Karatbars³⁾ - a Ponzi scheme that has been listed as a pyramid scheme in several countries and operates illegally in South Africa. On his website he is promoted by both Peter Muller and Charlene Chiang.

In the Media

Facebook

¹⁾

https://youtu.be/q_5JTP_qdWI

²⁾

https://youtu.be/LlJeolDPvIw

³⁾

Facebook

beurax

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 May 2021 15:25:26 +0000

Beurax

Beurax is described as an investment platform where they you access to daily crypto trading using trading bots that trade on your behalf.

Background

Official name	Beurax
Website	https://www.beurax.com
Launched	Nov 2020
Type of Scheme	Crypto trading Ponzi MLM
Type of Exit	System Upgrade

Info

Started by Brandon Watts (confirmed to be an actor),with Susan Pope (confirmed to be an actor) also appearing in later Youtube videos. Beurax collapsed as of 02 March 2021

bitcaw

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 03:48:56 +0000

Bitcaw was the precursor to Coin Buyers Club but an investigation by the Hawks linked their activities to that of BTC Global and scared off their unnamed would-be authorized FSP affiliate as well as forcing them to abandon the company.

People Involved

Andrew Caw

In the News

Bitcaw Trading threatens to sue Hawks over BTC Global Team - BehindMLM
BTC Global Part 1 - Scam Busters¹⁾²⁾³⁾⁴⁾

¹⁾

BTC Global was first marketed by South Africans using a website, BTC Financials. Locally, in South Africa, BTC Financials was also known as BTC Investment Hub headed by Cheri Ward, Clynton Marks, Andrew Caw, Madelyn Roose (deceased), Russel C Jerrard . These are the 5 masterminds behind this scam.

²⁾

Andrew Caw or one of the other admin opened the Coingate wallet (referred to as ‘WE” in the attached screenshot). Despite Cheri telling everyone that Steven had opened this wallet and provided lots of KYC documentation, it is a complete lie.

³⁾

Importantly, Steven Twain was based in New York and could never have opened the CoinGate wallet. The USA is not one of the countries supported by CoinGate. With that being said, South Africa is supported by CoinGate so either Andrew Caw must have used his company documents had he opened a wallet as a Merchant, or the other option was to open an account as a Trader.

⁴⁾

Andrew Caw distanced himself from the scam saying he had nothing to do with it. This is very unlikely considering he hosted the frontend website on SquareSpace, was fundamental in the creation of this appalling site, created the Google spreadsheet to calculate returns and one of two Admin who had the login details to the portal other the programmer.

bitclub_network

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 03:45:45 +0000

Bitclub Network

Bitclub Network was a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining scheme worth at least $722 million which operated between April 2014 and December 2019.

The scheme took money from investors in return for shares in cryptocurrency mining pools and rewarded recruitment.

People Involved

Masilo Mokone a.k.a Mr Smile
Matthew Brent Goettsche
Russ Albert Medlin
Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks
Joseph Frank Abel
Silviu Catalin Balaci¹³⁾

In the News

BitClub Network Was “Too Big to Fail,” but Cost Investors $722 Million - Westword
Bitclub Network Refund Page - Facebook
Programmer admits to helping create cryptocurrency scam BitClub Network - Finance Feeds

¹³⁾

Justice.gov

bitcoinmine

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 17:04:02 +0000

Bitcoin Mine

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

blerim_shabani

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:48:36 +0000

MTI VP.

My Financial Advantage

brandonlizamore

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 04:04:46 +0000

An MTI promoter who uses a false identity on Twitter.

Twitter -

Facebook - Herbalife -

Facebook - Personal

brandonmacdonald

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 18:17:55 +0000

Member of MTI and friend of Johann Steynberg¹⁾.

¹⁾

breckii

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 08:11:14 +0000

A Ponzi/Pyramid scam with highly unrealistic returns targeting the vulnerable population.¹⁾²⁾ It is stated on the official website that Breck II is a registered company - but no details are provided. The address given is 79 Roeland St, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa - https://maps.app.goo.gl/VCe6BbfGET3zf4V5A

In the Media

¹⁾

²⁾

https://www.breckii.com/

brendonearpjones

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 19:00:33 +0000

Brendon Earp-Jones

Bio

Brendon Earp-Jones is a career multilevel marketing (MLM) promotor having been involved in Lifestyle Galaxy, Karatbars and the Karatbars reboot FreeBay and Gold Standard Bank. He is member of a team called GiHugeness, which at its top consists of Andrew Eaton, Bruce Hughes and Brendon Earp-Jones

G999

Previous Schemes

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

brett_pretorius

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 18:08:33 +0000

Past Schemes

MTI¹⁾

brettmaaske

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 09:23:38 +0000

Companies Involved In

In the News

Dodgy Non-financial Advisor - Gold Matters

brucehughes

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 19:01:23 +0000

Bruce Hughes

Bio

Bruce Hughes is a career multilevel marketing (MLM) promotor having been involved in Karatbars and the Karatbars reboot FreeBay and Gold Standard Bank (GSB). He is member of a team called GiHugeness, that at its top consists of Andrew Eaton, Bruce Hughes and Brendon Earp-Jones. He also runs a training academy called the Cryp Know.

Previous Schemes

¹⁾ , ²⁾ , ³⁾ , ⁴⁾ , ⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

btcglobal

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:24:03 +0000

BTC Global

BTC Global was a Ponzi scheme utilizing bitcoin that facilitated the theft of over $80 million worth of bitcoin at the time from its investors. Payments stopped on 29.01.2018¹⁾.

There is now an offshoot scam operating as a classical 419, known only as Steven Twain is Back. It has gathered momentum by promising to return all stolen funds after a deposit of over $2500 is made to a BTC wallet controlled by the scammer.

People Involved

BTC Global in the news

You should have seen that BTC Global was a scam from a mile away - MyBroadband
Hawks: Bitcoin scam probe into BTC Global still ongoing - News24
$50 Million Gone? South African Police Probe Suspected Bitcoin Ponzi - Coindesk
South Africa investigates $80 million bitcoin scam - Reuters
In-depth Information on BTC Global, its owners and leaders - https://scambusters.net.za/btc-global/

Steve Twain: Who is the "master trader?"

The answer to that question might have been given away in the fallout of Mirror Trading International, by Joel Santiago (MTI shill and known repeat offender) who posted the following picture on social media.

¹⁾

BTC Global Team Ponzi collapses, admin in denial? - BehindMLM

²⁾

YouTube

³⁾

Cheri went by the moniker Dubalion. https://web.archive.org/web/20170802084615/http://www.winwithmdc.com:80/dubalion https://medium.com/@jessie.jh31/btg-global-the-south-african-ponzi-scheme-bc04cb7763f5

carrera

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 14:06:18 +0000

A New Zealand-based scam offering 2.3 to 3.3% profit for 15 days depending on the amount “invested”¹⁾ that appears to have stolen a legitimate company's details²⁾.

In the Media

Investments Carrera Corporation - 4x4 Community
Carrera Corporation Ltd Review - ScamWatcher
Carrera Corporation Ltd

FMA New Zealand

¹⁾

Wayback Machine

²⁾

cashfx

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:41:40 +0000

Cash FX Group

Cash FX is a multilevel marketing forex trading scheme that promises passive returns on investment by a forex trading bot.

The company has no products or services. The only income is generated through the recruitment of other members.

Regulator warnings

The UK financial regulator, the FCA issued a warning against the Cash FX Group in December 2019 saying the company does not have authorisation to sell financial services or products in the UK.

The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) has issued a statement saying Cash FX is not authorized to provide investment services in Norway.

In the News

Brutal Scams - Cash Forex Review - T Bob
FCA - British Regulatory warning - FCA
Cash FX Group Review: 200% to 400% ROI trading bot securities fraud - Behind MLM
Cash FX Group withdraw delays suggest imminent collapse - Behind MLM
Cash FX Group - Investor Alerts - Finanstilsynet

chantelvanbreda

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 06:51:21 +0000

charl_coetzee

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 19:18:01 +0000

Charl Coetzee

Bio

Director of My Wealth Method

Previous Schemes

charlenechiang

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 04:57:37 +0000

Charlene appears to be part of MTI corporate as she instituted the call between all the top leaders of a leaked Zoom meeting¹⁾ although she is listed as only a trainer/presenter with MTI²⁾.

¹⁾

²⁾

charlieward

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:36:19 +0000

Charles "Charlie" Ward

Born 29 September 1987, and Brother of Cheri Ward, Charlie started his career at MTI as Head of Strategy Implementation.

Charlie was promoted to COO on the 1st of October 2020 in a press release (see below). Cheri also confirmed this at 48:40 in the video below¹⁾.

After the MTI Strategic Conference in 2020 it was also announced that Charlie formed part of the Board of Directors of MTI as a NonExec

Disappearance of Johann Steynberg

Although the logical and rational plan of action would be to offer messages of support and join the search party after the disappearance of Johann Steynberg in December 2020, Charlie and other directors of MTI displayed bizarre and unsound behavior.

Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Charlie proceeded to scrub his Facebook account of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

This tactic can be seen that individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing before moving on to the next scam. Unfortunately this has the opposite effect as it gives the impression that these promoters were aware the companies they were promoting were scams since the beginning, and the only reason they promote these companies is for personal gain.

Several MTI members tried to reach out to Charlie as the COO for assistance following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg. Instead of trying to assist, members were met with personal insults, threats of violence and aggression.

References & Links

https://www.facebook.com/charlie.ward.71465572 https://www.instagram.com/health_sciencesa/

¹⁾

YouTube

cheriward

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:38:52 +0000

Cheri Ward

Previous Schemes

Biography

Cheri Ward, born on 7 February 1982 was the Head Of Communications and Marketing for MTI until the Ponzi scheme collapsed.

She describes herself as having a decade's worth of experience as a corporate trainer and presenter. Cheri has proven herself to be a serial Ponzi scheme addict, some naming her the “The Queen of Ponzi Schemes” and “The Ponzi Princess”. As a career ponzi scheme enthusiast she has been behind and involved in many online schemes such as BTC Global, Mirror Trading International, My Daily Choice, Syntek, MMM and Copy Profit Success Global.

Her history and involvement in current and past schemes is well documented online, with several websites and blogs containing in-depth information and details about her past scams. Cheri also has her own blog, where she tries (and miserably fails) to indemnify herself against any wrongdoing after the momentous crash of BTC Global which saw investors lose more thanUSD$80m.

Cheri has previously used the moniker Dubalion in MDC and BTC Global.

³⁾

Cheri used the moniker @cashcowmmm in her MMM days⁴⁾.

Cheri has come across as charismatic, well spoken (in English and Afrikaans), bombastic, narcissistic and very short tempered. Despite being the Head Of Communications and Marketing for MTI she has proven to take criticism very badly, frequently swearing at people on public forums if she disagrees with their opinion.

Steven Twain / Cheri Ward

There is a belief shared that Cheri might have invented Steven Twain either by herself or with assistance from Andrew Caw as a fictitious person running the BTC Global Scam. She did so to remove any personal responsibility and to protect herself, seemingly fully aware that BTC Global was a scam from one day with impending collapse. This is well documented in a detailed post on behindmlm.com.

Cheri, one of the top recruiters of BTC Global, was one of only very few people to ever have direct contact with Steven Twain. Up to this day, no one ever met, or saw Steven Twain. After the collapse of BTC Global, Steven Twain seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. No public record or social media accounts exists for Steven Twain, apart from 2 online photos.

Johann Steynberg / Cheri Ward

Although speculation is rife concerning the beginning of MTI, in the following screenshot it can be seen that Cheri was in from the beginning.

Although it could be established that Johann Steynberg is a real person, due to the similarities, his disappearance has been compared to the disappearance of Steven Twain, with the common denominator of Cheri Ward. It's impossible to establish if Cheri knew about Johann's pending disappearance.

In a leaked Whatsapp voice note Cheri denies living in a mansion and driving expensive cars even though she posted pictures on her social media account proving this as fact. Cheri tries to play the victim and denies knowing MTI is a scam, blaming Johann singlehandedly for MTI's collapse. Cheri implemented the exact same exit strategy with the demise of BTC Global where she blamed Steven Twain for the collapse.

Andrew Caw and Cheri Ward

Andrew Caw and Cheri have been close since at least MDC days.

Personal Details and Current Whereabouts

It is believed that Cheri’s maiden name is Ward. As with most schemes, Cheri got most of her extended family involved, undoubtedly, to also to share the ill gotten gains.

Cheri mentions on her personal blog that she has 2 brothers, Vince and Charlie. Charles "Charlie" Ward currently occupies - Head of Strategy Implementation and Vincent "Vince" Ward - Head of International Expansion.

Cheri was married to Leonard Gray - Head of Legal Department. Her public Facebook profile indicates that her last name was Gray at some point in time.

Her most recent husband Clynton Hugh Marks currently occupies the Head of Referral Program and Members position of MTI and is also an Executive member of the Board. From a recent Facebook post, it appears that Cheri & Clynton are no longer together. Cheri's (current/Ex) brother n law Coenie Rademan was the only other listed director as per the CIPC records of MTI.

Cheri mentions in her public blog that “when the girls and I lost everything, I had to explain to them (5 and 4 at the time) that their dad was not coming back” As this was prior to her current marriage with Clynton Marks (married: 19 Feb 2019)⁵⁾, it's understood that her 2 daughters are from a previous relationship. It is not known if this is Leonard Gray, as communications from MTI show that Leonard is part of the current MTI team.

Her former home is believed to be in Kloofendal, Roodepoort, based in Johannesburg, South Africa and she recently (September 2020) moved into a R11.5 million Rand mansion based in Monteith Estate, Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The purchase of this home is surrounded with controversy. According to publically available information, the house was purchased on 18/7/2020 for an amount of R11.5m and registered on 6/10/2020. The present owner of this home is a shelf company, Uprobuz (Pty) Ltd bought from the Shelf Company Warehouse that was registered on 22/05/2020. The director of this company, is a Zimbabwean national, Ngqabutho Don Nkomo

Don Nkomo's recorded address in Roodepoort is same address Clynton Hugh Marks used for one of the business registered in his name, namely Energy Hubspot (Pty) Ltd. Its believed Don Nkomo is a director in a company owned by Clynton Hugh Marks. This can be seen as an attempt from the Marks family to hide & protect their assets from authorities in a pending lifestyle audit & asset seizure. Since Cheri & Clynton seperation, this home has been for sale.

Cheri lives a very public life, shamelessly promoting schemes and scams. In a public introspection Facebook post Cheri reflected about the past few years, and commented that “She has gone legal”. While it can be left open for interpretation, this admission of guilt certainly implies that what she was involved with prior to MTI was not legal. It is believed that Cheri is supporting her lavish lifestyle with the proceeds from various schemes. Quite ironically Cheri's personal Facebook slogan is: “I live to make a difference, to leave a legacy that my children will be proud of…”

Trouble With the Law

It is reported that Cheri's Durban mansion was raided by the FSCA on 26 October 2020, after the FSCA obtained a high court order to seize documents, cellphones and computers related to MTI. This was confirmed by a leaked voicenote Cheri shared (presumably in a WhatsApp group). Cheri is heard laughing, making jokes and downplaying the seriousness of the situation. She claims that the raid was done because the FSCA is jealous of MTI.

Cheri claims that following the raids, she is supposedly preparing a countersuit against the FSCA. It is unknown whether MTI will actually counterclaim against the FSCA considering that the closest known resemblance the company has to any in-house legal expertise is Cheri's former husband Leonard Gray who is a non-practicing attorney and has sent multiple legal threats via WhatsApp to individuals that question whether MTI is legal.

Its important to note that this is not the first time Cheri has made empty legal threats. After the MTI hack occurred, Cheri claimed a police case was opened and that a criminal investigation was underway. Shortly after this she claimed that that the responsible parties were apprehended. Despite numerous requests for information on case numbers for this alleged investigation, no further info has been released by herself or MTI. It is believed that this was simply made up to create the illusion that MTI has the situation under control.

Reaction to Arrest of Johann Steynberg

Following the arrest of Johann Steynberg in Brazil on the 7th January 2022, Cheri updated her Facebook status to claim that she is “thrilled” and that “the truth will always win.

In the comments section, Cheri appears to incriminate herself further by stating that Johann “stole” 400 BTC from herself and Clynton, funds which they obtained from running the ponzi scheme.

Ponzi training with Cheri

Cheri shamelessly promoting MMM in a 2015 video

Photo Gallery

Cheri posing with her new, R1.8m Jeep Trackhawk, 7 May 2020:

Cheri seems to own multiple cars, here she took a photo of her Jeep on 18 Oct 2020

Pictured below is the R10m+ mansion Cheri moved into in the beginning of September 2020. This home is located in Monteith Estate, Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Facebook comment from MTI's Head of Legal, Leonard Gray, welcoming Cheri back in her role as captain.

Cheri posting a picture on social media, presumably where she bought her mother & grandmother new homes

MTI Founders pool

According to the recent MTI hack, Cheri is part of the MTI founders pool. She has multiple accounts, although its against MTI policy to have more than 1 account. Up to date her total scheme income is at least R7 580 377.74

Resources & Links

Blog Entries:

Cheri's personal Blog: http://thetruthaboutbtcg.weebly.com/about-cheri.html
3 Part Scambusters BTC Global Blog: https://scambusters.net.za/cheri-wards-truth-blog-btc-global/
Jesse Holmes Blog: BTC Global crash and Cheri's involvement: https://medium.com/@jessie.jh31/cheri-wards-departure-btc-golbal-lies-82e8f6244a33

Articles:

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

https://web.archive.org/web/20170802084615/http://www.winwithmdc.com:80/dubalion https://medium.com/@jessie.jh31/btg-global-the-south-african-ponzi-scheme-bc04cb7763f5

⁴⁾

Twitter

⁵⁾

citation needed

⁶⁾

chris_hattingh

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 03:14:21 +0000

Chris Hattingh

Bio

Known promotor of multiple Passive Income schemes including Chain Letter and Ponzi scams.

Known Schemes

He also Authored a Hard-seller guide for Mirror Trading International which was used in official presentations and on their Website mti_-_sell_the_trailer_-_not_the_movie_-_29_october_2020.pdf

ckm_wealth_creators

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 06:06:51 +0000

CKM Wealth Creators

Husband and Wife Team of Kevin Meiring and Charlene Meiring promoting various ponzi and pyramid schemes

clyntonmarks

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:02:18 +0000

Clynton Hugh Marks

Previous Schemes

Bio

Clynton Hugh Marks, previous winner of Mr Johannesburg, born 13 Feb 1970, is currently the Head of Referral Program and Members at MTI and also on the Board of Directors and the only Executive Director apart from Johann Steynberg⁵⁾. While this was noted at the 2020 MTI strategic conference, Clyntons name is not included as a director in the company information available on CIPC.co.za .

Clynton married Cheri Ward on 19 Feb 2019.

As a career Ponzi scheme enthusiast, he was involved in several MLM Ponzi schemes prior to joining MTI including, My Daily Choice, BTC Global - ⁶⁾, Syntek⁷⁾, MMM - ⁸⁾, Crypto World Evolution, and Thrive International⁹⁾.

He is also listed as a director of numerous other companies per the CIPC records, including:

ENERGY HUBSPOT,

DOTCOM TRADING 839,

RAINBOW ADVERTISING,

RAINBOW BUSINESS GROWTH NETWORK

and HARDCORE DESIGN

Its currently unknown if any of these business are actively trading, or if they are merely shelf companies.

The information contained in the recent MTI leaks showed that Clynton owns 2 of the top earning accounts at MTI, this despite MTI company policy supposedly banning members from having more than one account.

Quite absurdly, Johann Stenberg, MTI's CEO seemingly joined MTI underneath Clynton's income stream. This has lead people to believe that Clynton might be the mastermind and/or architect running MTI and that Johann is merely set up as the image of the company, or perhaps the “fall guy”.

Considering that Clynton is the only Executive Director¹⁰⁾ apart from Johann, the extreme profits he made from the MTI scam and the fact that Johann mysteriously disappeared in December 2020, this is a theory that is gaining popularity.

Current Whereabouts

Clynton's former home is believed to be in Kloofendal, Roodepoort, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He recently (September 2020) moved into a R11.5 million Rand mansion based in Monteith Estate, Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Don Nkomo's recorded address in Roodepoort is same address Clynton Hugh Marks used for one of the business registered in his name, namely Energy Hubspot (Pty) Ltd. Its believed Don Nkomo is simply a director in a company owned by Clynton Hugh Marks. This can be seen as an attempt from the Marks family to hide & protect their assets from authorities in a pending lifestyle audit & asset seizure.

Trouble With The Law

It is reported that Clynton's Durban mansion was raided by the FSCA on 26 October 2020, after the FSCA obtained a high court order to seize documents, cellphones and computers related to MTI. This was confirmed by a leaked voicenote his wife Cheri shared (presumably in a WhatsApp group).

MTI Founders pool

According to the recent MTI hack, Clynton is part of the MTI founders pool. He has at lease 2 accounts, although its against MTI policy to have more than 1 account. Up to date his total scheme income is R61 664 107.40 + R13 073 747.26 respectively from his 2 accounts.

References & Links

¹⁾ , ⁷⁾

²⁾ , ⁸⁾

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu5qOZii3YQ&ab_channel=ClyntonMarks

³⁾

⁴⁾ , ⁹⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

https://medium.com/@jessie.jh31/cheri-wards-departure-btc-golbal-lies-82e8f6244a33

¹⁰⁾

MTI Members portal (PDF) - Success Guide (PDF)

code_of_conduct

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 11:51:59 +0000

Code of conduct for Editors

Keep the information you post as neutral as possible. This is not a space for personal vendettas and putting emotion into your data impacts its reliability & credibility.
1. Cartoons and humorous clips are not considered newsworthy and detract from the impact of the data.
2. Keep the language clean and free from slurs or swearing.
Reference everything. If there is no reference, it did not happen and an admin or another editor can remove unreferenced information. If you don't have a reliable reference for the source of your information, do not post it.
1. Where possible, include both links and screenshots. All too often data is removed from the public domain.
2. Suspicions are not verifiable and do not meet OSINT standards.
Make sure the information you are posting has not been posted already. Avoid redundant information.
1. If the information is required across multiple sections, reference the section in an internal link instead of repeating the information.
Make sure sections can be found from main menu items. If a new page is created, create the appropriate link in the main section.
Please ensure that information you provide is in the correct wiki format language. The Style Guide can be found at Wiki Syntax.
1. Preview pages before saving to ensure all elements are correct.
You are responsible for what you type. While the admins can protect you and your information from most sources, we have to comply with the laws of the land.
No doxing. While it is okay to post information that is in the public domain, please do not post personal information (ID`s, addresses) of people from non-public domain sources (ie, leaks/hacks).
At the administrator's discretion, pages may be made private or removed entirely.

coinbuyersclub

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 07:08:36 +0000

A bitcoin buying organisation that has no KYC in place, and isn't authorised to take in funds. They also have no insurance or security regarding your bitcoin or FIAT. Apart from that, they also charge a 5% administration fee, and there is uncertainty as to whether or not your bitcoin will be available in 24 hours or after 6 weeks. There are cheaper and more secure institutions to operate through.

People Involved

Current director - Andrew Caw
Ex-director - Cheri Ward¹⁴⁾
Co-founder - James Caw

Affiliate Companies

In the News

South African Authorities Investigate - Yahoo finance

¹⁴⁾

colin_daly_-_crypto_stacks_369

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 08:29:55 +0000

Important Note: Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Colin proceeded to scrub his Youtube account of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

Mybroadband has documented evidence of Colin's long shilling of MTI. He is an active MTI shill living in Europe who is poorly attempting to cover his tracks to avoid prosecution.

Colin Daly a.k.a: Crypto Stacks 369 is the channel name of a Youtuber and supershill who has 2,270 subscribers and over 50 videos promoting MTI. Ironically, the channel's biography states “Crypto Stacks 369 is all about building passive crypto income streams with low risk platforms.” Considering MTI was issued with a cease and desist in Texas and is currently under investigation by the FSCA, Crypto Stacks 369 is not taking his own advice by investing in low risk platforms. Via his YouTube channel, he can be seen to be punting Torque, CT Passive (he withdrew his funds), and Cashfx.¹⁾

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQmYzVNLtA5WZWdp-Cc-2Q/

After the MTI data leak which made all of its members deposits, withdrawals and earnings visible, this Youtuber continued to shill MTI and was quoted in one of his videos as stating that he is “super chill” with the data leak.

Crypto Stacks 369 also has a private Telegram group for his MTI shilling which has 227 members: https://t.me/joinchat/L8kXSReNvDBexMVITHYi4g

Facebook profile with over 370 'friends': https://www.facebook.com/crypto.stacks/

Crypto Stacks 369 Response to MTI Raids

On 28th October, Crypto Stacks 369 released this Youtube video in response to the FCSA raids on MTI's office's, Johann Steinberg's home in Polokwane as well as Cheri and Clyton Marks home in Durban.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJD1-YoBSmQ

¹⁾

contact

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 04:18:46 +0000

https://dmca.dishonest.wiki/index.php

continentalminers

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 07:45:17 +0000

A mining scam which claims that due to an investigation opened into them, they're unable to pay anyone out. https://www.hellopeter.com/continental-miners-bot/reviews/disastrous-trading-bot-platform-3174255

copyprofitsuccessglobal

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 13:12:30 +0000

People Involved

In the News

Copy Profit Success Global review - BehindMLM

Copy Cat Marketing?

Copy Profit Share by Nenad Korof is a Scam - Forex Peace Army

corventer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 05:27:32 +0000

Trainer and presenter at MTI.

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000052712624

craig_van_aswegen

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:48:11 +0000

MTI VP.

My Financial Advantage

crowd1

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 03:32:02 +0000

People Involved

BREAKING NEWS 2 NOV 2020

BBC WORLD AFRICA RELEASES DOCUMENTARY - UNMASKING THE PYRAMID KINGS

MTN Partners with Emerge partners with Crowd1

This does not make Crowd1 legitimate- it does call into question MTN and Emerge's¹⁾ business ethics and due diligence requirements to stakeholders in managing new business.²⁾

Emerge Gaming Ltd (ASX:EM1) - Reddit - Part 1
!! Update !! Emerge Gaming Ltd (ASX:EM1) - Reddit - Part 2
Trading Halt - ASX - ASX - PDF
Are Emerge Gaming's (ASX:EM1) 6M pre-registrations real? - The Market Herald

In the News

Watchdog warns against Crowd1 - Sowetan Live
Sarb and FSCA investigating Crowd1 - Citizen
Crowd1 scam uses Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen pictures to lure investors - Biznews
Sarb investigating Crowd1 - Biznews
Namibia Bans Pyramid Scheme Most Popular with South Africans - IT News Africa
SA Regulator Flags Crowd1 as Suspected Pyramid Scheme - IT News Africa

¹⁾

Emerge Gaming

²⁾

YouTube

crypto_stacks_369

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 01:41:52 +0000

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQmYzVNLtA5WZWdp-Cc-2Q/

Crypto Stacks 369 also has a private Telegram group for his MTI shilling which has 227 members: https://t.me/joinchat/L8kXSReNvDBexMVITHYi4g

Facebook profile with over 370 'friends': https://www.facebook.com/crypto.stacks/

Crypto Stacks 369 Response to MTI Raids

On 28th October, Crypto Stacks 369 released this Youtube video in response to the FCSA raids on MTI's office's, Johann Steinberg's home in Polokwane as well as Cheri and Clyton Marks home in Durban.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJD1-YoBSmQ

crypto_wealth

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:18:22 +0000

Crypto Wealth

A South-African matrix-based Bitcoin Ponzi scam

Known Participants

cryptoanalyzer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 06:30:50 +0000

Crypto Analyzer

Crypto Analyzer goes by the first name of Gary¹⁾. His full name is Gary Jeremiah Handley. He's confirmed Irish, living at 3 Dart Close, St. Ives, England, PE27 3JB²⁾. He is a super Ponzi scheme shill that uses his various online profiles and social medial to promote, sell and market various schemes.

Channels

Modus operandi

During the promotional phase he lures in unsuspecting victims underneath his pyramid or down line by indicating that he has performed the required due diligence on the scheme. During this phase he tries to sign up as many people as possible by asking people to join using his referral link.

He then proceeds to profit by means on referral bonuses, commissions or incentives from people in his down line, while putting in very little money of his own. During his phase he will withdraw as much as possible, perfectly aware of the impending collapse of the scams he is promoting.

Once the scam collapses, he proceeds to distance himself from the said scam, and scrubs his online and social media accounts of all info related to the said scam and then moves on to the next scam. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse. This tactic can be seen in that individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing.

His webpage lists various schemes he promotes⁵⁾, as well as his YouTube channel. According to the MTI stats (PDF), he withdrew 38.195484130000004 BTC, and he had 658 down lines. His UserId was 2212969⁶⁾.

In this video, we can see the due diligence he apparently did to convince his team of the legitimacy of MTI - screenshots below⁷⁾.

He has apparently withdrawn at least 10BTC From Finalmente 1month before its demise (9 weeks after joining)⁸⁾ and sent a thank-you bottle of Champagne to Kobus van der Merwe

As of 2020-01 Cryptoanalyzer has started publishing his primary videos to his personal website which requires registration to access,with the majority of video content requiring a premium membership only available to people using Cryptoanalyzer directly as their sponsor⁹⁾

Schemes Promoted

MTI¹⁰⁾ - removed from promotions
Torque - Still active¹¹⁾
Finiko - Still active
Finalmente¹²⁾ - removed from promotions
CashFX - Still active,removed from promotions
Veribull - Auvoria Prime - Still active,removed from promotions
Mind Capital - 11 months,trashcoin coin-exit scam, removed from promotions¹³⁾BehindMLM
Passive Expert - Still active,removed from promotions
VCI International - Still active,removed from promotions
EXP Asset - 8 months,Collapsed (Hacking claims)BehindMLM
My Passive Trades - 9 Months,blames Covid19 and “Oil Wars”BehindMLM
L7 Arbitrage Trades - 7 months,hacking claims
Cloudtoken - 6 months,blamed Hackers Covid19 & Authorities BehindMLM
S Block - 5months,Fizzled out and released another token BehindMLM
Arbistar - 17 Months,refund-exitBehindMLM
The Trading People - Silently collapsed after 1month?

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

https://youtu.be/5kK513267QQ

⁸⁾

⁹⁾

¹⁰⁾

¹¹⁾

YouTube

¹²⁾

Cryptoanalyzer put a notice on his website stating people shouldn't count on getting their funds returned.

¹³⁾

cryptodash

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 10:44:06 +0000

Cryptodash

Failed ICO¹⁾,effectively a trashcoin

From its promotional material: Crypto Dash features an integrated payment solution and an exchange platform poised as a decentralized market place which enables buyers and sellers to trade directly in any crypto and fiat currency using any method of payment.

Referrals to other projects by the team

The official Telegram channel was used to refer users to ²⁾ Finalmente Global on 4 Feb 2020
Around June 2020 the official Telegram Channel was used to punt³⁾ their next project Globecoin

Cryptodash Team

cryptogold

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:08:41 +0000

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

In the News

Crypto Gold review - BehindMLM

cryptradersfx

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 19:30:04 +0000

Cryptradersfx is a very thinly disguised pyramid.

From their website- https://en.cryptradersfx.com/ - the following can be noticed:

None of the buttons except the “Purchase a Plan” buttons work
They use stock photos for their testimonials without worrying about gender matching name
Numerous spelling errors
Vague statements with no facts to back them up
No company or ownership details
Their FAQ has a question that says “Are we a pyramid scheme?”

This profile appears to have been set up explicitly to solicit investors- Harley Abner - LinkedIn

cwe

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 05:33:17 +0000

A Ponzi scheme promising easy access to trading in crypto markets using a semi-automatic trading bot.

Known Associated Members

In the News

LinkedIn
Crypto World Evolution Review: $2000 Pro Miner Ponzi positions - BehindMLM
Crypto World Evolution Scam Alert - Medium

daisy

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 18:38:13 +0000

In the Media

D.A.I.S.Y Scam - Now What - Facebook
Daisy AI Review: EndoTech launches securities fraud opp - BehindMLM

daniel_scholtz

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 08 May 2021 08:26:13 +0000

Daniel Scholtz

Bio

Daniel Scholtz advertises himself as a passive income expert. Noted as being the primary contact for Redox Trades LLC South African telegram channel.

Known Schemes

¹⁾ , ²⁾ , ³⁾

davidventer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:44:03 +0000

David Venter

Bio

Runs a Channel/Team/Business called Stress Free Income¹⁾ with Wesley Jeftha. Interviewed Tiaan van der Westhuizen shortly before the demise of Finalmente. Ironically has a video on how to identify Ponzi/Pyramid schemes on their Business Youtube

Previous Schemes

denhamcapital

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 11:02:08 +0000

DENHAM CAPITAL

Owner: Gerrit Denham

Claims: Full Time Recruiter for MTI

denversmit

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 04:03:15 +0000

A VP of several schemes, including Finalmente, A-I Vizion, and MTI.

desirevisser

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 09:06:40 +0000

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/Bitcoin-Network-103059974903530

dragon_mine

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 01:26:46 +0000

Dragon Mine

Dragon Mine is a cryptocurrency multilevel marketing (MLM) scam. The company sells crypto mining subscriptions but relies on recruitment to sustain itself.

People Involved

References

Crypto Mining Space Review: Dragon Mining Tech B2G Ponzi scheme - Behind MLM
Dragon Mine - Dragon Mine

eddiebrown

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 06:04:43 +0000

MTI VP from team My Financial Advantage.

Now punting Meishi Affiliate Program¹⁾.

Also pushed Karatbars²⁾.

¹⁾

²⁾

elamant

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 10:16:50 +0000

Elamant

People Involved

Reboot

Elamant has rebooted to an Education MLM with a mandatory monthly membership component

Info

Launched in 2017,effectively a reboot of Saivian,run up by the same CEO namely Ryan Evans. Touted as a “Rewards Club” paying rebates for Users uploading Shopping Purchase Slips. Has admitted there are no deals currently with any research or retail companies. Currently 80% of your rewards are locked up in virtual points with no foreseeable future value. Being that Elamant has no other source of Income other than Membership fees,it's a fairly standard pay-to-play Pyramid Scheme

In the News

Elamant declared Illegal Pyramid Scheme by Bank of Namibia - https://neweralive.na/posts/elamant-declared-illegal-by-central-bank
Elamant exposed on the Devi show - https://www.enca.com/shows/devi-8-april-2021
FSCA Issues a public warning against Elamant - https://www.fanews.co.za/article/compliance-regulatory/2/financial-sector-conduct-authority-fsca-was-fsb/1059/fsca-issues-public-warning-against-elamant/31570

elana_barnard

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 May 2022 17:06:19 +0000

Elana Barnard

Bio

Known promoter in multiple ponzi,pyramid and gifting scams.

Known Schemes

¹⁵⁾

¹⁶⁾

¹⁷⁾

¹⁸⁾

¹⁹⁾

²⁰⁾

ericventer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:20:48 +0000

Eric Venter¹⁾ has over 2000 followers on Facebook²⁾ and has been using this channel to actively promote MTI. His username has also been noted defending MTI in the comments section of any articles criticizing Mirror Trading international.³⁾

Investing Bitcoin

¹⁾

²⁾

Facebook

³⁾

MoneyWeb

esmari_du_plessis

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:27:57 +0000

Linked to cryptodash,globecoin,finalmente

falconvision

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:23:27 +0000

Sipho Ndaba's company to promote Hyperfund.

Website - http://falconvision.co.za/get-started-with-hyper-capital/.

finalmente_global

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 07:19:34 +0000

¹⁾

Background

Official name	Finalmente Global
Website	https://www.finalmenteglobal.com
Launched	July 2019
Type of Scheme	Adsales/Training/ICO
Type of Exit	Threats/Collapse of Other Scam

Finalmente Global

Finalmente Global has collapsed as of 06.01.2021

Finalmente Global Ponzi scheme Collapses - BehindMLM
Finalmente Global members push for provisional liquidation order - Mybroadband

Kobus van der Merwe speaks up

Kobus van der Merwe surfaced in a video uploaded 23-01-2021²⁾ blaming his disappearance/silence on a security incident,necessitating the shutdown of Finalmente Global's platform. Below the video the description links to a comment form and a copy of the Liquidation notice,used as an excuse to shift blame to the Liquidation (and insinuating the members that requested it) for preventing any way of legitimately re-starting the platform.

Collapse of Scheme

The CEO of Finalmente Global Kobus van der Merwe attempted to dissociate Finalmente Global and MTI and put out a statement on 22.12.2020 that there was no similarity or connection between MTI and Finalmente Global³⁾. This would later prove to be false by their own admission

Finalmente Global placed on their website and sent out a message on 06.01.2021 stating that due to MTI's demise they were unable continue the scheme⁴⁾.

Verbatim quote:

Dear Members,

It is with heavy heart that we have to inform you that due to the demise of MTI, we too, have lost a substantial amount of money, not only due to the investment we have/had with them but also the revenue stream of advertising.

As most of you know our business was advertising based, MTI being one of our largest clients in that aspect of our business. Due to the false impression of our association with MTI a large portion of our other clients have also cancelled our mandate.

Due to this we have lost a substantial portion of our income, as a result we are no longer lucrative enough to continue trading and we have had to retrench our staff and suspend all further trade.

This website will be suspended for an indefinite period. We will keep you advised of any further developments.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

With regret,
Management Finalmente Global (Pty) Ltd

Cryptoanalyzer put a notice on his website stating people shouldn't count on getting their funds returned⁵⁾ which is ironic,since he withdrew all his available funds (10BTC) on 24 November 2020⁶⁾.

A subsequent update post has been placed on the website:

Dear Members,

Further to the previous e-mail and subsequent suspension of our platforms, we wish to advise all members that we are working vigorously together with relevant professionals to find a solution to the problem.

We wish to inform everyone that further communication will follow as soon as possible, as to what the plan of action will be to resolve this to the best of our abilities.

Regards,
Finalmente Global (Pty) Ltd
9 January 2021

Finalmente Global

From it's marketing material Finalmente Global came into existence in 2019 by three partners that were actively involved in the online marketing and online earning industry at the time. Due to the many non-legit programs and scams actively operating on the internet. Presenting itself to be an opportunity to assist the community by creating a platform where members’ funds would be used in transparent ways to generate profits. The main website however only launched around March 2020.

How does Finalmente Global Generate Profits? Finalmente Global has a team of members, each responsible for various aspects of generating profits daily. We engage in various online marketing and related activities, including but not limited to

Revenue Sharing
Online Advertising - buying and selling of advertising methods and space
ICO and IEO coin offerings within the Crypto sphere
Buying and Selling of training material pertaining to online earning methods

Members

The company listed below members Founders of the Company⁷⁾⁸⁾:

Kobus van der Merwe - CEO/Managing Director⁹⁾¹⁰⁾
Tiaan van der Westhuizen - CFO/Director of Sales¹¹⁾¹²⁾ (Resigned 2020-11-24 per CIPC)¹³⁾
Viljoen - COO¹⁴⁾¹⁵⁾
Susan Barnard- Marketing Manager¹⁶⁾¹⁷⁾

Other members of the Management team include:

Jonathan Cross - Support Manager¹⁸⁾
Jackie van der Nest - PR Manager¹⁹⁾
Morne Fourie - Paymaster²⁰⁾
Esmari du Plessis - Marketing Manager²¹⁾
Johan van der Merwe (aka Johan Lambton)

It is interesting to note that much of the founder/management team were listed in 2 previous Coindrop/ICOs which were attributed to “Partners” in the Telegram channels when referring to Finalmente - namely Cryptodash and Globecoin

Other employees:

Renaud Labuschagne - Graphic Designer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaud-labuschagne-183b99197/
Louis Labuschagne - Business Development Manager²²⁾ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-labuschagne-8148951bb/
David Bisschoff - Information Technology Manager - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bisschoff-519a0213/
Shaleen De Witt - Support - https://za.linkedin.com/in/shaleen-de-witt-219b431bb
Raynier Matthys - Business Development Manager²³⁾
Matthew Roelofse - IT Administrator²⁴⁾

Company Registration and Official documents

The company is registered in South Africa under registration number: 2019/358319/07.

CIPC documents

In the News

Bitcoin Lending Ponzi Scheme - BehindMLM
Finalmente Global shuts down, blames death of Mirror Trading International - MyBroadband
Finalmente Parners with NSRI - https://www.nsri.org.za/2020/09/we-welcome-a-new-partner-onboard-finalmente/
Kobus van der Merwe’s bogus Finalmente Global excuses - https://behindmlm.com/companies/kobus-van-der-merwes-bogus-finalmente-global-excuses/

finalmente_main

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 20:06:14 +0000

Finalmente Main

Finalmente Main was launched around 2020-07 as a sister site to Finalmente Global¹⁾. Finalmente Main abrubtly shut down on 06.01.2021 - the same day as Finalmente Global,with no news or explanation. The site had a Maintenance notice added for 2021-01-13²⁾,later adjusted to 2021-07-01 but has subsequently been shut down completely.

From their website Finalmente Main offered the following services:

1. Membership Packages
2. Investment Options
3. Advertising
 Earners
 - Pay to Click 
 - Traffic Exchange System
 Advertisers
 - Pay to Click
 - Traffic Exchange
 - Banners
 - Login Ads

The Investment Options were disabled around 2020-10 and the service moved to Finalmente Global

¹⁾

https://youtu.be/kd_slD9l6Jo

²⁾

finalmente

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:18:52 +0000

This page has been split into Finalmente Global and Finalmente Main

finfine

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 14:21:07 +0000

finiko

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 14:17:48 +0000

for3x_breakout_kings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 11:59:52 +0000

Ponzi Scam: For3x Breakout Kings

https://for3x.co.za/ +97 150 123 5705 info@for3x.co.za

For3x breakout kings is a ponzi scam run by Jerome Michaels. Like many typical ponzi scams it claims to offer mathematically impossible returns, even beating those of investors such as Warren Buffet. In this case, for3x breakout kings claims to offer returns of 7% per week!

The company is registered in Dubai and despite being operated from Cape Town, it is not registered with the FSCA.

For more information please see this thread on mybroadband where the members debunk the company and the owner aggressively attempts to defend the company by using barely literate arguments.

Offenders involved in the For3x breakout kings scam

Jerome Michaels - https://www.facebook.com/evangelistjerome.michaels/ Natasha 'Tasha' Michaels - https://www.facebook.com/cammynatasha Liberebil - https://www.facebook.com/Liberebil

forsage

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:04:17 +0000

Forsage ForTron ForsageTron Forsage XGold

Multiple “Smart-contract” Ponzi scams,all effectively reboots started by Lado Okhotnikov According to his Facebook profile, Okhotnikov is based out of Moscow, Russia.Okhotnikov describes himself as “the king of decentralized MLM”.

In the News

Ethereum based cash gifting scheme - BehindMLM
Forsage fraud warning issued by Philippines SEC - BehindMLM
Fortron Review: Forsage gifting scam reboots with tron - BehindMLM
Forsage XGold Review - https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/forsage-xgold-review-lado-okhotnikovs-4th-forsage-ponzi/

freebay

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:06:27 +0000

Info

Founded in June 2020 as a “partnership to Karatbars,but is suspected of being a marketing reboot of Karatbars due to waning interest. CEO listed as Jurgen Pulvermuller who previously was the Head of Sales for Karatbars¹⁾.More former Karatbars Execs leading up Freebay are Norbert Take and Marius Broening. Freebay's products seem to only be access to an Education platform,with multiple Paid subscription levels giving access to earnings from being an Affiliate.

¹⁾

https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/freebay-review-karatbars-v999-ponzi-token-reboot/

freedom_global

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 06:21:39 +0000

Background

Freedom Global was founded by Robert Maxwell. Started in 2016,it was an online peer-to-peer Donation Exchange scheme which was designed to provide equal opportunity of additional income to all its members

People involved

Sales Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7k0RyH6_o

g999

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 01:21:13 +0000

G999

G999 is a gold-backed cryptocurrency with a 999.9% 24 karat purity issued by The Gold Standard Bank (GSB) and GSPartners.

G999 Project Information

Official name	G999
Website	https://g999main.net/
Launched	15 Oct 2020, Karatbars
Contributors	Josip Heit, Alex Cocindau

Info

After splitting from Karatbars and his partner in Karatbars, Harald Seiz (who started a competing project V999), Josip Heit and Alexandru Cocindau started the G999 project on top of Gold Standard Bank. G999 seems to be a direct fork of PIVX, and much of its documentation seems to correlate to a previous project called BitcoinPOS.

G999 has its roots in Karatbars and is related to Karatbars, Freebay, GSB and V999

From its marketing material: G999 is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that aims to become sound global money with fast payments, micro fees, a new generation of communication, and high transaction capacity.

Evidence that G999 is A Scripted Scamcoin?

GSPartners’ G999 seems to have originated from a pre-purchased script¹⁾, potentially used in launching prior scamcoins.

The G999 website claims its development process began in 2018, detailing various stages of blockchain development throughout that year. The community links section on G999’s website includes a BitBucket link to its blockchain source package, uploaded in November 2018, aligning with their claims.

However, notable details arise in the “Need Help?” section of the readme file within G999’s blockchain source package. This section redirects to a BitcoinTalk forum thread for SafeInsure Coin (SINS), an unrelated pump-and-dump shitcoin launched in September 2018. SINS eventually stopped functioning in early 2021.

Following the decline of SINS, another similar coin, SafeCapital (SCAP), emerged in December 2019, met with abandonment around July 2020.

G999’s readme file strikingly mirrors that of SINS, indicating a mere name change from SINS to G999 without substantial alterations in the underlying script. This was further substantiated by the referenced source files of G999, SINS, and SCAP, highlighting resemblances.

However, subsequent to this article’s publication, GSBank removed the G999 source readme file and deleted the commit entry, potentially attempting to erase evidence indicating G999's similarity to SINS and SCAP.

Further examination of G999’s readme uncovers more traces linking it to SINS, including broken links to SINS’ root readme file, suggesting a strong resemblance and potentially indicating G999's genesis as a clone.

G999’s BitBucket code project has remained stagnant since October 2020, indicating a lack of ongoing development.

Contrary to GSPartners’ representations of a dedicated blockchain team behind G999’s development, evidence suggests the purchase of a script, with modifications only to incorporate the project's name.

While G999 followed a pattern similar to SINS and SCAP in terms of pumping and dumping, the MLM comp plan behind G999 continues to generate profits for GSPartners' founder, Josip Heit.

Less than 48 hours after BehindMLM published evidence that GSPartners’ G999 was created via an off the shelf shitcoin script GSBank had deleted the evidence. ²⁾

People Involved

Celebrity endorsements

German actress Sophia Thomalla appeared in a promotional video for G999 with Josip Heit³⁾

Regulator warnings

The New Zealand regulator, FMA issued a warning against Karatbars, FreeBay, G999 and related companies.

geraldlassen

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 04:02:15 +0000

Gerald Lassen

Gerald and Liz Lassen have worked as a team alongside Je'zelle Kruger to bring in investors in Somerset West for MTI. Gerald was also in in BTC Global¹⁾ with Cheri Ward.

¹⁾

gerardkavonic

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 17:06:05 +0000

Styles himself as South Africa's smallest ad agency and actively promotes MTI and Hyperfund.

Website - http://www.kavonichone.co.za/
Previous website - since restricted - https://web.archive.org/web/20200811150517/https://captainsincrypto.co.za/ * MTI promotion - http://www.kavonichone.co.za/before-joining-mti-mirror-trading-international-ask-yourself-one-thing/
Hyperfund promotion - http://www.kavonichone.co.za/tag/hyperfund-scam/

gerrit_denham

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 07:10:16 +0000

getsuperrich

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 17:04:37 +0000

Get Super Rich

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

gideonstols

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 05:03:03 +0000

Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2661499350827199&id=100009014791780

Companies Promoted

MTI

CBI / Uhuru

CashFX

Hyperfund

globecoin

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 18:06:13 +0000

Globecoin

Globecoin aka FCOIN/FCOINN seems to have been a precursor to Finalmente Global established around June 2020 paired to ETH and BTC¹⁾,after which Finalmente Global pivoted to its new business model - this inference is based on contact details²⁾,crosslinking³⁾ and similarity in Logos. Previously the team had dipped their toes into ICOs with another coin namely Cryptodash

From marketing material

What is Globe Coin?

The goal of the Globe Coin is to disrupt the current state of the blockchain ecosystem. While most ERC-20 tokens offer little to none functionality, Globe Coin aims to use smart contracts in new and innovative ways adapted to quickly evolving requirements of the global financial market. Globe Coin is set to become a game-changing token due to its maximized effectiveness at providing decentralized solutions. From creating customized decentralized crypto exchanges to developing games and tip bots, Globe Coin is designed with optimal usability in mind. The solid foundation of elevated functionality assures vast expansion, quick adoption, and stable development of Globe Coin.

Why you should join ICO?

Globecoin has real usecases, so its a lot more than a tradeable currency. Here are more reasons why you should get in-

- Innovative multi-functional ERC-20 token - Advanced smart contracts technology - Expanded usability: decentralized exchanges, games, tip bots and many more - An experienced team dedicated to decentralized governance - Attractive to investors: high usability assures quick adoption

Globecoin Team

Kobus van der Merwe

Johan Lambton

Viljoen

Esmari du Plessis

Susan Barnard

Tiaan van der Westhuizen

Other Links

http://globecoin.ltd/ - website suspended

https://t.me/s/globecoin_announcement - Globecoin Announcements Telegram Channel

https://t.me/Globecoin_official - Globecoin Official Telegram

https://fcoinairdrop.com/

https://uk.advfn.com/crypto/GlobeCoin-Token-FCOINN/fundamentals

https://etherscan.io/token/0x792e6d4fe6a87efab1690af040b8c2abfe8dc661

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

gold_standard_bank

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 16:17:30 +0000

Gold Standard Banking (GSB) is a reboot of the Karatbars International GmbH scheme.

Mentioned above includes: Brendon Earp-Jones, Bruce Hughes and Andrew Eaton

gspartners

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 00:34:42 +0000

GSPartners

Official name GSPartners, Gold Standard Bank, Swiss Valorem Bank

Website http://gspartners.global/

Launched 15 Oct 2020, GSB Gold Standard Group

Contributors Josip Heit, Alex Cocindau

GSPartners operates within the cryptocurrency niche and emerged as a spinoff from Karatbars International, spearheaded by Josip Heit. The company notably lacks comprehensive executive information on its website, leading to speculation surrounding its origins. GSPartners’ website¹⁾ and that of Swiss Valorem Bank were disabled on 16 December 2023 following a rug pull. This happened without prior warning or communication to GSPartners investors. GSPartners rebranded as GSPro²⁾. As of 20th December 2023, GSPro has announced it is terminating all US GSPartners investor accounts.

Background

The genesis of GSPartners is entwined with the turbulent history of Karatbars International. Notably, Josip Heit's association with the company stemmed from the aftermath of Karatbars’ KaratGold Coin (KGC) hype disaster in mid-2019. Harald Seiz, Karatbars CEO, had advertised a 100 KBC to 1 gram of gold exchange in the buildup to the July 4th event. However, this promise never materialized, resulting in a substantial 62% drop in KGC’s public value shortly after the launch event. Amid this marketing debacle, Harald Seiz's absence and Josip Heit's fronting of angry investors through recorded videos led to discontent among KGC investors, forcing Karatbars to disable comments on videos featuring Heit.

The subsequent phase witnessed regulatory warnings issued by various countries in response to Karatbars’ KGC debacle, prompting Seiz and Heit to maintain a low profile through 2019 and 2020. Amidst this uncertainty, the introduction of “Gold Standard” in 2020 and a subsequent token reboot, G999, emerged. However, by September, these plans faltered, leading Harald Seiz to promote Freebay and V999, a spinoff from the G999 token.

Heit’s split from Karatbars took place sometime between the announcements of Gold Standard and Freebay. This rift marked Heit's departure to establish GSPartners, wherein he retained the original G999 token.

GSPartners' Offerings

Products: GSPartners operates without retail products or services for affiliates to market, focusing primarily on promoting GSPartners affiliate memberships. The primary perk of these memberships is access to the Blockchain Academy, a platform offering courses on blockchain, coinization, crypto assets, and digital currencies through video-based online sessions.

Compensation Plan: Despite the absence of a publicly available compensation plan on their website, GSPartners affiliates invest in G999 tokens with an expectation of returns. The investment occurs through GSPartner’s GSTrade exchange, wherein affiliates receive G999 tokens upon signing up. The entry involves fees for Brand Advantage Basic and Premium Packages, providing varying amounts of G999 tokens.

Affiliate Ranks and Commissions

GSPartners delineates ten affiliate ranks within their compensation plan, each associated with specific qualification criteria based on Group Volume (GV) generated by downline affiliates.

Referral commissions follow a unilevel compensation structure, capped at nine levels, with varying percentages paid out based on the level.

The company allocates portions of company-wide fee investment volume into pools like Blockstar Pool, Infinity Pool (based on rank), Community Pool, and Legacy Program, with varying distributions and qualifications.

Conclusion and Critique

GSPartners' lack of transparency regarding its compensation plan raises suspicions of a continuation of securities fraud that plagued Josip Heit’s previous venture. The value of G999 tokens appears contingent upon recruitment, echoing concerns of a volatile and speculative nature. The platform uses educational offerings from Blockchain Academy to mask potential securities fraud, promising returns and offering various investment schemes. These practices, coupled with the absence of disclosed information on their website, signal potential regulatory non-compliance and raise concerns of financial risks associated with participation.

This comprehensive insight aims to inform readers about the controversies surrounding GSPartners, cautioning against potential risks linked to their MLM scheme and G999 token investments. The platform's historical context and regulatory ambiguities prompt prudent consideration and emphasize potential financial risks for participants.

Notable Promotors

Josip Heit

Alex Cocindau

Tony de Gouveia

Andrew Eaton

Bruce Hughes

Brendon Earp-Jones

Michael Dalcoe

Nitsa Nakos

Shell Companies linked to GSPartners

GSBank, incorporated in Mwali.

GSB Gold Standard Banking Corporation AG³⁾

GSPartners and COVID-19 Vaccination Passport Discussion

In an attempt to boost credibility, GSPartners oddly entered the discourse on COVID-19 vaccination passports.

Despite being unrelated to COVID-19 digital passports, GSPartners released press statements trying to liken itself to major tech players like Google and Apple. This effort failed to establish legitimacy, as these companies are not involved in MLM crypto Ponzi schemes.

GSPartners presented its research department's aid for a digital vaccination passport, positioning itself as an alternative to the EU's ongoing discussions. However, the EU's prototype doesn't involve blockchain or cryptocurrency, unlike South Korea's vaccination app that utilizes blockchain.

The company's attempt to associate its G999 token with environmental compliance and secure data management through blockchain raised skepticism. Josip Heit's emphasis on blockchain for digital certificates bordered on the absurd, hinting at GSPartners' involvement in a national vaccine rollout, an implausible scenario.

Website traffic decline starting in late February signals potential trouble for GSPartners, common for Ponzi schemes without fresh investors. The scheme targets U.S. and African investors but operates from Hamburg, Germany, with no intervention from German authorities.

Dumping of 2 Billion G999 Tokens by GSPartners Corporate

Analysis of G999's blockchain suggests GSPartners dumped over 2 billion tokens. Data from a recent GitHub project called dataDamager ⁴⁾ revealed these dumps from corporate wallets, occurring between January and April 2021.

G999's value surged to 2.39 cents on its initial listing but plummeted to $0.0039 by early March 2021. Josip Heit, GSPartners' operator, is believed to have profited significantly from these dumps, reportedly making around $5.9 million in March 2021.

BehindMLM's review of GSPartners coincided with a decline in website traffic around mid-March 2021. Majority of GSPartners' affiliates originate from the US (43%), followed by South Africa (13%) and India (9%). As of June 9th, 2021 GSPartners planned to launch a new cryptocurrency, JONE, following G999's poor performance.

Launch of JONE Token

In a classic move within MLM crypto schemes, GSPartners abandoned their failing G999 token to introduce JONE, a new cryptocurrency.

Promoted with a countdown on their website, JONE allegedly connects to Dubai's J One apartment tower project, although the connection remains unclear. GSPartners claims JONE tokenizes the property's floor space, presenting it as an investment opportunity. However, the actual association between the token and the building is dubious.

Similar to their previous token, G999, which flopped after initial pumps, GSPartners will allow affiliates to swap their worthless G999 tokens for JONE tokens. Expected to follow a familiar pattern of pump and dump, JONE will likely debut on unreliable exchanges, attracting new investors before plummeting in value. This move mirrors the scheme's pattern of launching tokens for quick gains, regardless of the underlying product's credibility.

As of June 18th, 2021, RKM Durar Properties, associated with the J One tower, has disclaimed any knowledge or affiliation with GSPartners and Josip Heit.

J One Developer Denies Ties with GSPartners & Heit

In the wake of GSPartners' JONE token launch linked to Dubai's J One tower, RKM Durar Properties, the tower's developers, have refuted any association with GSPartners or Josip Heit.Conversations from a MyBroadband forum revealed RKM Durar Properties' lack of awareness about Heit or their involvement with G999 or JONE tokens.They dismissed claims of an alliance with Gold Standard Bank (GSB) and labeled related promotions as unauthorized.This disavowal brings into question GSPartners' narrative and raises doubts about their choice of the J One tower for marketing purposes. Despite these contradictions, GSPartners' website persists in promoting the impending JONE token launch. As of June 26th, 2021 the MyBroadband forum thread discussing these disparities has been removed without explanation.

GSPartners and XLT/Lydian World Metaverse

In a bid to link tokens to real estate, GSPartners initially promoted JONE tokens tied to Dubai's J One Towers. When the tower's developer disavowed any association, GSPartners shifted to XLT tokens, claiming a tie with Movenpick Hotels and Apartments Dubai through Driven Properties.

The scheme involves XLT token price manipulation to prevent immediate devaluation. GSPartners also introduced Lydian Lions (LL) for a virtual world scheme, soliciting investments via cryptocurrencies but lacks proper securities registration.

GSPartners' attempt to distinguish affiliates with a $49 compliance fee raises questions amidst declining G999 investments. Accor Group issued a cease and desist⁵⁾, addressing concerns related to Movenpick's involvement.

Recent developments reveal Accor Group's response, confirming GSPartners lacked authorization⁶⁾ to use Movenpick's Dubai property for the XLT Ponzi scheme. The Investor Relations Team demanded the property developer to cease immediately. Research suggests Richreit Real Estate Development may be the property developer, as they have engaged Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts for managing a similar project in Dubai, aligning with GSPartners' marketing materials.

If Richreit received the cease and desist, it implies implications for GSPartners and their partner, Driven Properties. Despite Accor Group's confirmation, GSPartners has not publicly addressed this issue or made statements regarding the XLT token since the event.

This situation mirrors the prior failed attempt with JONE tokens tied to J ONE Towers, which collapsed when the tower's developers disavowed any links to GSPartners and Heit.

While GSPartners' website does not mention XLT or Mövenpick’s apartments, the Dubai marketing videos announcing the partnership remain accessible, indicating uncertainties regarding GSPartners’ alleged partnerships and token-based real estate investments.

After Accor Group's disapproval of GSPartners using the Movenpick brand, GSPartners attempted to proceed via JJJ Holdings⁷⁾, a company linked to Josip Heit. They rebranded the deal as 'G999 Exclusive Living' but maintained involvement with SAAS Properties and Driven Properties. JJJ Holdings' recent setup, reflected in its new domain and redirection to GSB Gold Standard Corporation's site, suggests an attempt to obscure GSPartners' role after Accor Group's warning. The situation prompts questions about potential actions by Accor Group and regulatory bodies, particularly in the context of maneuvering to bypass authorized branding, potentially raising legal concerns in locations known for MLM activity like Dubai.“

SLAPP Lawsuit Against South African YouTube Channels

GSPartners, experiencing a significant drop in new victims signing up, filed a lawsuit⁸⁾ against a South African YouTube channel, alleging defamation and loss of income⁹⁾. Plaintiffs include GSPartners, owner Josip Heit, and several promoters.

Defendants named in the lawsuit, associated with the “G-Crypt” channel, are accused of making defamatory statements in seven videos, impacting GSPartners’ membership and earnings. GSPartners claims a 66% reduction in new monthly memberships since the videos were published.

GSPartners sought damages and injunctions against the allegedly offending videos and demanded public apologies. Notably, claimed incomes of promoters dropped after the decline in memberships, with Josip Heit seeking millions in damages.

However, the statements criticized by GSPartners reflect factual accuracy, revealing its Ponzi scheme nature, despite the lawsuit's allegations.

Furthermore, GSPartners’ Ponzi scheme history, involving Karatbars International and its transition to G999 tokens, depicts a repeated cycle of launching speculative tokens to attract investments.

Despite lacking regulatory registration in relevant jurisdictions, GSPartners targeted countries like South Africa, resulting in a decline in website traffic despite the lawsuit’s timing.

The legal battle continues at the time of writing. A second lawsuit was filed by GSPartners against another YouTube channel #ChrisTrade, owned by Christopher Wayne McDaniel.

US Government allegations of fraud

Texas described GSPartners as “various fraudulent investment schemes that are threatening immediate and irreparable harm” issued by the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB). ¹⁰⁾

Washington's Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) described GSPartners’ MLM business as “fraudulent activity” ¹¹⁾

Alabama claims GSPartners was “evading Alabama laws and making guarantees that are unrealistic”¹²⁾

California described GSPartners as a “fraudulent crypto investment scheme”¹³⁾

Kentucky asserted GSPartners “acted as an unregistered issuer of unregistered securities through its publicly available websites”¹⁴⁾

Wisconsin described GSPartners as a “global fraud scheme”¹⁵⁾

Arkansas claimed GSPartners is “perpetrating numerous fraudulent investment schemes that are threatening immediate and irreparable harm to investors”¹⁶⁾

New Hampshire accused GSPartners of “fraud and deception”¹⁷⁾

Arizona determined GSPartners’ threat to “public welfare requires immediate action”¹⁸⁾

Florida’s undercover investigation into GSPartners revealed “unlawful activities“¹⁹⁾

Mississippi described GSPartners’ Ponzi scheme as the “offering and selling fraudulent (of) certificates tied to digital assets”²⁰⁾

Georgia’s Commission of Securities issued an emergency cease and desist order as well as $500k fine²¹⁾²²⁾

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has labelled GSPartners as a “cryptocurrency scam”.²³⁾

Canadian Regulatory Warnings

Quebec's AMF issued 52 GSPartners website securities fraud warnings on March 9th , 2020²⁴⁾

Alberta issued three GSPartners securities fraud warnings against G999, GSTrade and GSPartners on May 19th, 2023²⁵⁾

British Columbia issued a GSPartners & Swiss Valorem Bank securities fraud warning on May 30th 2023 ²⁶⁾

Saskatchewan issued a GSPartners securities fraud warning on June 1st 2023 ²⁷⁾

Ontario issued a GSPartners and Swiss Valorem Bank securities fraud warning on July 25th 2023 ²⁸⁾

International Regulatory Warnings

Australia issued a GSPartners securities fraud warning on November 15th 2023 ²⁹⁾

South Africa's FSCA issued a GSPartners securities fraud warning on November 22nd 2023 ³⁰⁾³¹⁾. Crypto assets are now regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), after they were declared financial products in 2022³²⁾

GSPartners' Attempt to Block BehindMLM in Ukraine

GSPartners sought legal action in Ukraine to silence BehindMLM's reports on their Ponzi scheme³³⁾. The court supposedly issued an order to block the site, citing defamation claims by GSPartners.

The court order coincided with BehindMLM's articles on GSPartners, suggesting potential external influence. Despite the alleged blockade, BehindMLM remains accessible in Ukraine.

This unexpected move to Ukraine raises questions about potential connections between GSPartners, Josip Heit, and Ukrainian entities, hinting at hidden motives or ties.

The order's duration depends on ongoing legal grounds, indicating a possible link to GSPartners' future or regulatory actions.

BehindMLM informed the SEC about these events due to GSPartners' significant US investor base.

Suspicious elements in the court document, like the inclusion of a Ramsar URL, raise doubts about potential tampering.

Despite the alleged block, BehindMLM's accessibility in Ukraine persists, highlighting potential gaps in the legal action.

The situation remains uncertain, inviting speculation about hidden motives behind GSPartners’ Ukraine strategy.

GSB Gold Standard Bank's Fake Mwali Banking License

Central to GSPartners’ G999 Ponzi scheme is GSB Gold Standard Bank, touted as holding a banking license in Mwali, a small island off Africa's eastern coast. This license claim is pivotal in legitimizing the scheme but stands on shaky ground.

GSPartners asserts that GSB Gold Standard Bank obtained an A Class Banking License (license No. B2020020) from The Mwali International Services Authority (MISA). This license supposedly authorizes operations related to the G999 blockchain and other services, but doubts about its authenticity emerge from discrepancies³⁴⁾.

MISA, where GSB Gold Standard Bank allegedly holds a license, operates through Moheli Corporate Service Ltd, offering services for shell company incorporation, including “international banking licenses.” However, the Central Bank of Comoros has refuted GSB Gold Standard Bank's existence in its registry and denied issuing any such license.

Further investigation revealed the MISA Register of Companies as a non-existent entity within the Union of the Comoros. Moheli Corporate Service's claim to offer Mwali banking licenses conflicts with the Central Bank's assertion of non-approval for banking activities or license issuance.

Attempts to clarify this led to revelations from the Central Bank of Comoros, discrediting GSB Gold Standard Bank's claimed license, MISA's legitimacy, and Moheli Corporate Service's role in issuing non-existent licenses.

Celebrities Endorsing GSPartners

Floyd Mayweather endorses GSPartners

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) issued an Emergency Cease and Desist Order on 16 November 2023 against the company, citing that… “Their schemes are being driven by a global confederation of commissioned multilevel marketers, and GSB Group has been using athletes such as boxer Floyd Mayweather and footballer Roberto Carlos to promote its brand.”³⁵⁾. Other notable sports celebrities mentioned in the order are footballers Roberto Carlos, Mario Yepes, David Trezeguet, Michel Salgado, and Lucas Radebe.

Sophia Thomalla promotes G999 and GSPartners

In early 2021, German actress Sophia Thomalla appeared in a commercial for G999, the cryptocurrency issued by Gold Standard Bank, part of the Gold Standard Bank conglomerate of companies.³⁶⁾

Forbes Riley's Involvement with GSPartners

Forbes Riley³⁷⁾, an acclaimed TV host and health expert, became a Brand Ambassador for GSPartners without openly disclosing compensation. Despite her influential position, Riley's promotion of G999, associated with a suspected Ponzi scheme, raises ethical concerns. Her active recruitment and endorsement of the investment scheme lack Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration, sparking legal uncertainties.

South African Sports Stars Endorse GSPartners

On 21 January 2024, Media24 reported in City Press and Rapport that sports starts including Lucas Radebe, Herschelle Gibbs and Victor Matfield were paid by GSPartners to promote the company.³⁸⁾³⁹⁾

GSPartners white-labelled debit card

The merchant providing GSPartners with debit card financial services had severed ties with GSPartners in September 2022⁴⁰⁾. Club Swan and Nvayo Limited put out a notice to say it will no longer be providing financial or other services to GS Partners and GSB and affiliated entities.

PMA Media Group, Aurae Lifestyle, Nvayo Limited, Club Swan and AU Card LLC are all owned by Christopher James Scanlon. Scanlon was arrested⁴¹⁾ by US authorities at Miami International Airport on Thursday, 25 May 2023.

Through his companies, Scanlon has been charged with running an “unlicensed money transmitting business”.⁴²⁾⁴³⁾

On 8 August 2023 the FCA introduced regulatory restrictions on Nvayo Limited, alleging that it operated as an unlicensed private bank for its customers and had operations in the United States and other foreign jurisdictions.⁴⁴⁾.

Known MLM clients of Scanlon’s unlicensed private bank include BitClub Network, GSPartners, PLC Ultima and My Daily Choice (dba Akashx).

BDSwiss Denies Partnership with GSPartners' Metaverse Certificates Scheme

In January 2023, BDSwiss, a prominent trading platform, refuted any association with GSPartners and its “metaverse certificates” Ponzi scheme, distancing itself from the alleged partnership.⁴⁵⁾ Initially presented as a collaboration to facilitate GSPartners' promised returns of up to 480% annually, BDSwiss denied any involvement after approximately eight months.

Despite previous endorsements, BDSwiss categorically stated, “We can confirm that there is no partnership between BDSwiss and GS Partners.” The denial prompted a legal investigation by BDSwiss, raising questions about the legitimacy of GSPartners' scheme and potential legal repercussions.

This incident echoes GSPartners' history of fabricating corporate partnerships, as seen in a prior Ponzi scheme involving JONE tokens and a false claim of a partnership with Accor Group.

With BDSwiss out of the picture, GSPartners' metaverse certificates scheme faces challenges, impacting the credibility of the external revenue aspect. The collapse of previous ventures, including LYS tokens and G999, adds to doubts surrounding GSPartners' credibility.

As the legal investigation unfolds, the aftermath of BDSwiss' denial poses uncertainties for GSPartners' future ventures and raises concerns within the cryptocurrency and investment communities.

On 24 January 2023, BDSwiss posted an update to its website titled “Updates on BDSwiss Collaborators”.⁴⁶⁾. In this post, the company makes it very clear that they never had a partnership with GSPartners or any of its associated companies.

Dear valued clients and friends,

It has come to our attention that for quite some time now, GSPartners Team, Lydian.world, Gold Standard Bank, and/or their associates have been on a publishing expedition of content explicitly featuring our brand and registered trademarks, suggesting an affiliation and/or cooperation with us.

We hereby wish to set the record straight by informing you that we have never started any kind of cooperation or affiliation with GSPartners Team, Lydian.world or Gold Standard Bank. If you ever come across such content, please be informed that we have not approved it and are not associated with GSPartners Team, Lydian.world, Gold Standard Bank, or any of their representatives.

We urge everyone seeking our products and services to ensure they are contacting us only through our official communication channels available on our website: www.bdswiss.com

Sincerely,
BDSwiss

Further reading

https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/gspartners-review-josep-heits-g999-karatbars-spinoff/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-uses-covid-19-vaccination-passports-to-plug-ponzi/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-corporate-dumped-2-billion-g999-tokens/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-now-a-shitcoin-factory-launches-jone-token/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/j-one-developer-denies-knowledge-of-gs-partners-heit/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-collapsing-south-african-youtube-channel-blamed/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-files-second-youtuber-lawsuit-in-south-africa/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-replaces-jone-with-xlt-and-lydian-world-ponzis/

¹⁾
Archive.org backup of GSPartners' website

²⁾
GSPro website

³⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/a-peek-inside-josip-heits-german-gspartners-shell-company/

⁴⁾
https://github.com/dataDamager/g999

⁵⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/gspartners-developer-sent-movenpick-cease-and-desist/

⁶⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/accor-group-gspartners-not-authorized-to-sell-movenpick-property/

⁷⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/gspartners-selling-movenpick-xlt-tokens-through-jjj-holdings/

⁸⁾
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/516607-company-that-sued-tiny-south-african-youtube-channel-for-r476-million-slapped-with-fsca-warning.html

⁹⁾
https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/fsca-warns-gs-partners-is-not-licensed-to-solicit-investments-in-sa/

¹⁰⁾
https://ssb.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/ENF_23_CDO_1879.pdf

¹¹⁾
https://dfi.wa.gov/news/press/wa-dfi-issues-action-against-gspartners-citing-certificate-sales-and-multi-level

¹²⁾
https://asc.alabama.gov/news_detail.aspx?ID=16264

¹³⁾
https://dfpi.ca.gov/2023/11/16/dfpi-joins-multiple-states-provinces-in-taking-action-against-gspartners-for-fraudulent-crypto-investment-scheme/

¹⁴⁾
https://kfi.ky.gov/Documents/GS%20Partners%2c%20Josip%20Heit%202023AH0027.pdf

¹⁵⁾
https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/About/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/20231117GSPartners.aspx

¹⁶⁾
https://securities.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Cease-and-Desist-Order-GS-Partners-et-al.pdf

¹⁷⁾
https://sos.nh.gov/media/xmfoiiwp/enforceord_i-2023-000033.pdf

¹⁸⁾
https://docket.images.azcc.gov/E000032154.pdf?i=1700512389846

¹⁹⁾
https://www.doah.state.fl.us/FLAID/OFR/2023/OFR_118942_11172023_055205.pdf

²⁰⁾
https://www.sos.ms.gov/press/mississippi-secretary-state-issues-cease-and-desist-order-against-gs-partners-global-josip

²¹⁾
https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/GS%20PARTNERS%20GLOBAL%2C%20et%20al%20Emergecy%20Order%20%28ENCE-241162%29.pdf

²²⁾
Georgia fines GSPartners, Josip Heit & Michael Dalcoe $500K | https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/georgia-fines-gspartners-josip-heit-michael-dalcoe-500k

²³⁾
Beware Cryptocurrency Scams | https://www.mass.gov/info-details/beware-cryptocurrency-scams

²⁴⁾
https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/investor-warnings?tx_solr%5Bq%5D=gspartners.global

²⁵⁾
https://www.asc.ca/en/Enforcement/Investment-Caution-List

²⁶⁾
https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/enforcement/early-intervention/investment-caution-list/2023/gspartners

²⁷⁾
https://fcaa.gov.sk.ca/public/CKeditorUpload/GS_Partners.pdf

²⁸⁾
https://www.osc.ca/en/investors/warnings/gspartners-aka-swiss-valorem-bank

²⁹⁾
https://moneysmart.gov.au/check-and-report-scams/investor-alert-list#!https-gspartners-global-1375

³⁰⁾
https://www.fsca.co.za/News%20Documents/FSCA%20Press%20Release%20-%20FSCA%20warns%20the%20public%20against%20GS%20Partners%20-%2022%20November%202023.pdf

³¹⁾
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-28-yet-another-scam-blemishes-the-cryptocurrency-horizon-regulator-investigating-gs-partners/

³²⁾
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-12-03-gs-partners-red-flags-highlight-spread-of-dodgy-crypto-providers/

³³⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners-gets-behindmlm-censored-in-the-ukraine/

³⁴⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/gsb-gold-standard-banks-mwali-banking-license-is-a-sham/

³⁵⁾
GS PARTNERS AND JOSIP HEIT’S FRAUD EXPOSED BY U.S. AND CANADIAN REGULATORS | https://www.ssb.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2023-11/Release_GSPartners_FINAL2_11162023.pdf

³⁶⁾
Schauspielerin Sophia Thomalla wirbt für dubioses Blockchain-Projekt | https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/maerkte/devisen-rohstoffe/spot-fuer-g999-schauspielerin-sophia-thomalla-wirbt-fuer-dubioses-blockchain-projekt/26756134.html

³⁷⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/forbes-riley-us-actor-promoting-gspartners-ponzi/

³⁸⁾
Dodgy crypto scam with sports stars as ambassadors | https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/dodgy-crypto-scam-with-sports-stars-as-ambassadors-20240121

³⁹⁾
Matfield, Gibbs help bedenklike geldskema | https://www.netwerk24.com/netwerk24/nuus/aktueel/matfield-gibbs-help-bedenklike-geldskema-20240121

⁴⁰⁾
GSPartners loses GSLifestyle debit card financial provider | https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/gspartners-loses-gslifestyle-debit-card-financial-provider/

⁴¹⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/bcn-gspartners-plc-ultimas-financial-provider-arrested

⁴²⁾
Businessman Charged with Conspiring to Own Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business|https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/businessman-charged-conspiring-own-unlicensed-money-transmitting-business

⁴³⁾
Scanlon Complaint PDF | https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-05/scanlon.complaint.pdf

⁴⁴⁾
https://behindmlm.com/payment-processors/fca-cracks-down-on-chris-scanlons-nvayo-limited

⁴⁵⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/gspartners/bdswiss-denies-gspartners-ponzi-partnership/

⁴⁶⁾
https://web.archive.org/web/20230321010001/https://global.bdswiss.com/company-news/beware-of-fraudsters-posing-as-bdswiss-collaborators/

guidelines

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 07:36:20 +0000

This page is only viewable to editors.

Guidelines for Editors

When you post a statement here, please always try link back to a source.

Be careful of calling people names. Even a name like, “scammer”. These people have deep pockets and may sue for that.

On that note. I will protect the identity and information of our users unless a South African judge says otherwise.

Try keep the wording professional. We want this to become an important information resource, not just a place to vent anger. The more professional we keep this, the more likely law enforcement and media will use the content in this wiki.

Feel free to invite new editors you trust. Get them to sign up, and then email linuxlemur@gmail.com with their username. I will upgrade them to editor.

If you see anyone defacing content, please let me know at linuxlemur@gmail.com

hannespotgieter

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:47:33 +0000

MTI VP.

My Financial Advantage

helmut_meijer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 May 2021 09:42:22 +0000

Bio

Musician,Producer and Book Writer. Top earner in MTI with a downline of 2344,and 22 direct referrals. Deposited approx ~0.24 BTC. Withdrew 18 BTC. Known to promote MTI on his facebook²¹⁾ page. Has not filed returns with CIPC for several years for his business²²⁾.

Other Links

Instagram - Instagram

Matie Voices - Matie Voices

Helmut Meijer - Hemut Meijer

SABC News Book Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rb60G5Vo7s

²¹⁾

²²⁾

henricohanekom

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:56:56 +0000

Henrico Hanekom

Henrico Hanekom is a vocal MTI promoter believed to be residing in Pretoria in South Africa. Through his Youtube Channel - Practical Abundance - which has over 3,500 subscribers, he actively promotes two ponzi schemes: Mirror Trading International and a suspected Russian ponzi scam called finiko which promises its members 1% per day ROI.

In a Youtube video posted on his channel entitled "Am I still with MTI"? mirror trading international answered“ posted on 10/10/2020 he confirms that “I am still invested, and I have nothing bad to say about MTI.”¹⁾

Henrico's involvement in MTI is best demonstrated in the MTI leaks which, as evidenced below, shows that Henrico had at the time of the leak 53 downlines and had invested R 586 689.56 of his own money. He has, however, withdrawn R 2 693 674.91 which is most of his R 2 767 062.44 income from the scheme.

Henrico claims to be a “block chain multi millionaire”. One can only assume these ill gotten gains were via scams such as MTI

MTI Collapse

Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Henrico proceeded to disassociate & scrub his Youtube channel of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

This tactic can be seen when individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing before moving on to the next scam. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect as it gives the impression that these promoters were aware the companies they were promoting were scams since the beginning, and the only reason they promote these companies is for personal gain.

The below screenshot shows he has “unlisted” a particularly sensitive video where he claims to be actively participating in MTI on 10th October 2020.

This directly implicates him as part of a long list of MTI promoters and super-shills scrubbing their social media presence.

Henrico is also the owner of his own neuro-marketing agency: http://www.henricohanekom.com/. He has a new training opportunity on https://fyl.henricohanekom.com/freedom_webinar which he punts in his new video - https://youtu.be/6OEGegrRydI on MTI.

Companies Promoted

MTI²⁾

Finiko BehindMLM

¹⁾
YouTube

²⁾

henrykemp

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:26:49 +0000

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/MTI-Investments-129905782035947/.

hyperfund

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 05:37:33 +0000

A scam that has been trying to gain investors since 2018 without much success. Their website - https://www.thehyperfund.com/#index-coreteam.

There is a convoluted back-trail of owners, investors, shell companies and the like, nicely explained by this Redditor - https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/7t5nji/hcash_hsr_defrauds_investors_with_decred_dcr/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body leading to this steemit article - https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@gobbleguts/hcash-hsr-china-australian-shell-companies-and-the-useful-idiots. Hcash is also denounced here - BehindMLM.

ignatiusbell

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 04:53:06 +0000

Founder and promoter of MTI¹⁾.

Companies

Directorship Registration Number Director Type Director Status

JOHN BELL AND SONS RETAIL ICE CREAM SALES 1992/011356/23 Member Active

RIPPLE EFFECT 41 2001/021623/07 Director Resigned

LAND ENHANCE MANAGERS 2002/019848/07 Director Resigned

GHDEVCO 2014/056199/07 Director Resigned

IGNATIUS BELL INVESTMENTS 2004/013885/07 Director Active

PRO PLAN CONSORTIUM 2014/054852/07 Director Active

IGCA ROOMYS 1996/061693/23 Member Active

TRIANGLE FOREX 2002/025555/23 Member Active

IGNATIUS BELL VERHURINGS 2004/069138/23 Member Active

BELL POTCHEFSTROOM PROPERTIES

2008/126084/23 Member Active

CLIFTON DUNES INVESTMENTS 96 2004/013892/07 Director Resigned

¹⁾
https://youtu.be/IKiujYsU634

iquandex

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 18:49:17 +0000

In the Media

iQuandex Review: Bitcoin trading bot securities fraud - BehindMLM

ishyell_van_der_merwe_viljoen

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:07:49 +0000

Ishyell van der Merwe (previously Ishyell Viljoen) Married to Kobus van der Merwe¹⁾²⁾,sister in law to Johan van der Merwe/Johan Lambton³⁾. Has deleted facebook profile since the demise of Finalmente

Linked to cryptodash,globecoin,finalmente

¹⁾

²⁾ , ³⁾

jackie_van_der_nest

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 13:18:41 +0000

Jackie van der Nest

Bio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-v-36b9731b5/ - Linkedin

Previous Schemes

Finalmente

jacquessmit

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:39:30 +0000

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/TEAMBTCSA.

jamescaw

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 14:14:35 +0000

James Caw, the brother of Andrew Caw, is the founder, co-founder and manager of a number of marketing and trading companies, one which has been linked to Cheri Marks²³⁾.

Companies Involved In

Caw Consulting

Founder

https://www.cawconsulting.co.za/Caw Consulting

Coin Buyers Club

Co-Founder

aHealey

Founder

Sebrio

Marketing Manager

My Gift Registry

Co-Founder

Personal Pages

JamesCaw.com

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

²³⁾

jezellekruger

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 07:32:44 +0000

Part of TeamEpic - promoter of MTI.

joelsantiago

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 19:28:47 +0000

Joel Santiago

Involved In...

Copy Profit Success Global¹⁾

Volishon²⁾³⁾

MTI⁴⁾

Recruiting Drive

MTI Nigeria ⁵⁾

Websites

www.trustakeover.com - previous

Facebook page - Facebook⁶⁾

http://www.MyBitcoinGrowsDaily.com/⁷⁾

In the News

Volishon Review: Travel, recruitment & potential Ponzi - BehindMLM

Volishon in “total shambles”, says former affiliate - BehindMLM

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

johan_lambton

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 12:48:59 +0000

Johan van der Merwe (aka Johan Lambton)

Bio

Johan van der Merwe aka Johan Lambton¹⁾²⁾ (odd to have your surname in your business being your wife's maiden name?). Brother of Kobus van der Merwe³⁾. Brother in law to Ishyell van der Merwe/Ishyell Viljoen⁴⁾

Previous Schemes

Linked to

cryptodash

globecoin

finalmente

Other Links

https://www.facebook.com/johan.vandermerwe.75685 - Facebook Profile from 2008 for Johan van der Merwe⁵⁾ https://www.linkedin.com/in/johan-lambton-a4707b86/?originalSubdomain=za - Linkedin

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾ , ⁴⁾

⁵⁾

johankruger

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 07:40:24 +0000

Johan Kruger

Bio

Founder of Goldsave. VP of MTI¹⁾²⁾ who professed to have done an audit on the trades. Per Werner Beukes,Johan is Senior Admin Assistant for Mirror Trading International per his cousin Werner Beukes comment on BehindMLM and his Linkedin

Now a member of the RAG - Recovery Action Group³⁾ group.

Founding member of Team Prime along with Marius Strydom, Henk Grimsil, Helen Lang, Jay Standera, Esteban Smit, Werner Beukes (cousin)

¹⁾
https://youtu.be/bj4SX_BVs6c

²⁾

³⁾

johanneschristiankriel

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 04:47:38 +0000

A member of MTI and now an organizer for RAG - Recovery Action Group.

He has an illustrious and well-documented past¹⁾.

CarCaptain²⁾

SEO Optimizer³⁾ - owned the Rag domain⁴⁾

Digital Marketing Wizard⁵⁾

Global Village Workers⁶⁾ - the main sponsor and support for RAG⁷⁾

Media

Twitter

YouTube

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

johannsteynberg

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 23:38:42 +0000

Johann Steynberg

Previous Schemes

MTI

Cryptogold

Ker-ching

Kipi¹⁾

Syntek²⁾

DevotedInvestments.com

Dragon Mining

BTC Global

HashOcean

Bio

Johann Steynberg, born 13 July 1983, is the only listed director (as per the current records on CIPC.co.za) and the CEO of Mirror Trading International. Even though he describes himself as having proven to be reliable and trustworthy, Johann has a known history in failed MLM and pyramid schemes as early as 2000 when he was selling MLM investment related booklets with his father³⁾. Past schemes include Cryptogold, Ker-ching, Kipi⁴⁾, Syntek⁵⁾, DevotedInvestments.com⁶⁾⁷⁾⁸⁾, Dragon Mining⁹⁾¹⁰⁾, BTC Global & HashOcean. He also ran a trading site - FXMam in 2010 that slowly disappeared¹¹⁾.

MTI

Even though Johann is the founder and CEO of MTI, he falls under Clynton Hugh Marks MTI income stream, as indicated in the recent MTI hack. This has lead some to believe that he is merely the face of the company, and that other people (including Clynton Marks) might be running the company in the background.

Johann comes across as an analytical person. He claims to have extensive background in business and systems. He also claims to have studied computer programming, with limited trading experience. Johann is the face of MTI, regularly appearing on pre-planned and scripted Q&A YouTube videos. Unlike other MTI management figures, Johann seems to live a very private life, out of the limelight and detached from social media.

Personal life, Family and Current Whereabouts

Before Johann's disappearance, it was reported that Johann was residing in Polokwane in the province of Limpopo, South Africa. It is believed that Johann married Nerina Steynberg (born 10 March 1982) in 2006 and they have one daughter together.

While extremely unlikely, it is not possible to establish if Nerina had any official involvement with MTI from a company point of view. With that said Nerina had at least one MTI account in her own name, and her total scheme income at the time of the MTI hack was R15 728 192.34 Its unknown if she opened this account herself, or it was merely managed by Johann. It was a common strategy for other MTI directors to open up multiple accounts in other family members & children names to abuse the referral fee system. It is believed that Nerina currently works in a retail chain, and continues to occupy her position after Johann's disappearance.

According to publically available information, Johann and Nerina are the only directors of Dulospan (Pty) Ltd. This company recently purchased 5 properties including a R4.5 farm on 26/05/2020, a R1m property on 24/04/2020, and a R955000 property on 17/06/2020 in Limpopo, South Africa. Considering the info available from the recent MTI hack, there are substantial withdrawals on Nerina's account before the time of purchase. This supports the theory that that these properties where bought with ill gotten gains from MTI.

Johann has at least 2 brothers. Johann's older brother, Coert Steynberg made a public statement on social media shortly after Johann's disappearance referring to Johann as “my youngest brother”. Coert claims that he has not had any contact with Johann in the last 5 years due to the fact that he lost money after investing in Kipi on Johann's recommendation.

Disappearance

During the Monthly Q and a November 2020 with CEO Johann Steynberg posted on the official MTI YouTube channel on 8 December 2020 it was noted that the traffic in the background drove on he right hand side of the road, where cars drive on the left hand side of the road in South Africa.

Some started to speculate that Johann left or fled the country, and is currently in hiding due to increasing pressure from a ongoing criminal investigation into MTI. Although not confirmed at the time, it was confirmed by MTI at a later stage that Johann was supposedly moving MTI servers abroad.

In a widely circulated social medial message it was noted on 19 December 2020 that:

“Johann Steynberg our CEO left South Africa on the 3rd of December for business. There was regular contact throughout the days with Johann providing us with updates and information. On Monday 14th of December Johann had been processing withdrawals trying to clear the backlog. Nerina (Johann's wife) then received a communication to say he was going for some dinner & would later continue with the withdrawals. (He had processed over 3000 withdrawals prior to this message to Nerina) Approximately 13 hours later Clynton Marks and Nerina (Johann’s wife) received an automated emergency email to say that Johann had not logged into the MTI system for 12 hours. This security protocol email provided critical info for the team to start the process of working without Johann. (Up till that point Johann was the only one with authority to deal with the broker & technical team). Up till today we have not heard from Johann again. We are extremely worried and a missing persons case has been filed. ”

While the circumstances around his disappearance is currently unknown, its a common exit strategy implemented by crypto scams for top management to disappear with members funds. This most famously also happened in BTC Global, where Steven Twain disappeared. Its widely known that most of the current MTI top management was also involved in the BTC Global scam. Other examples of this dissapearing act include the disappearance of Ruja Ignatova and the possible death of Gerald Cotten

From this message it is thought that Johann's wife did not join him on his trip abroad. From the initial MTI statement it was noted that a missing persons case has been filed. On a follow up statement by MTI, management noted that Nerina has not filled a missing persons report as yet, which is in direct contradiction to their first statement. Its currently unknown if this missing persons case was indeed filed. Although Nerina did not have any official position in MTI, in a bizarre move Cheri Ward referred investors to Nerina for any questions after Johann's dissapearance.

Arrest

on the 7th January, 2022 Johann Steynberg was arrested in Goiânia, Brazil, confirming suspicions that he had fled to the country approximately a year ago.

Suspected Email Addresses

pub144@hotmail.com (Although confirmed ad linked to his name from website.informer, this and the following email are suspected to belong to another devious character.)

mklein72@hotmail.com

domains@isaacgoldstein.com

support@mydeposit241.co.za

johann@wealthyminer.co.za¹²⁾

Previous domain links according to Website Informer¹³⁾

Bitcoin Mine (Under new ownership currently ¹⁴⁾)

Online Business Coach

Get Super Rich

Kipi SA a.k.a My Deposit 241 / 247

MTI Founders pool

According to the recent MTI hack, Johann is part of the MTI founders pool. He has at least 4 accounts, although its against MTI policy to have more than 1 account. Up to date it is estimated that his total scheme income is at least R12 090 331.33 + R5 958 032.45 + R29 940.92 + R492 253.55 from his accounts respectively.

Photo Gallery

Johann during his Cryptogold days:

Johann presumably at a Kipi workshop:

An archived Ker-Ching Sign up form Johann used for his new recruits:

CIPC screenshot: Devoted Investments:

Early BTC Trading under the names Cornelius Steynberg and Joe Steyn -

Facebook

Localbitcoins.com

MQL5.com

Soehoe.id

Links & References

The main people behind Mirror Trading International - Mybroadband

¹⁾ , ⁴⁾

²⁾ , ⁵⁾

³⁾
MyBB

⁶⁾
Hot HYIPS

⁷⁾

⁸⁾
CashBB

⁹⁾
BTC Pro Mining - PDF

¹⁰⁾
Income Builder Portal - PDF

¹¹⁾

¹²⁾

¹³⁾
https://website.informer.com/Johann+Steynberg.html

¹⁴⁾

johanvanwyk

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 21:02:45 +0000

Johan van Wyk

Bio

Self-proclaimed prophet who started a church falsely promising miracles of healing and actively promoting multiple Investment scams.¹⁾ There are unfounded rumors of his passing. He had/has a Telegram group - @BitcoinInvestmentOpportunities.

Previous Schemes

Impact101 ²⁾

Wealth Machine Team ³⁾

Platincoin ⁴⁾

Ker-Ching ⁵⁾

MTI ⁶⁾

Crypto World Evolution ⁷⁾

Thrive International⁸⁾

Other Links

Linkedin⁹⁾

Solid Rock Church

¹⁾
JOHAN VAN WYK – SOLID ROCK CHURCH WITH NOT SO SOLID ADVERTISING - Discerning the World

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

⁸⁾

⁹⁾

johnloots

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 03:41:55 +0000

Promoter of MTI.

In the Media

MY MTI Opportunity - Facebook

Website - My MTI

josephclairevaneeden

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 18:51:12 +0000

A couple who promote MTI using fraudulent claims. ¹⁾

In the Media

MTI Forex Trading - Facebook²⁾

Grow Your Bitcoin - GYB Training - cached site: Webcache - GYB³⁾

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

jperasmus

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:18:08 +0000

JP Erasmus²⁴⁾ promotes AI Vizion, previously known as Compound360Forex²⁵⁾.

Companies Promoted

Crowd1

MTI²⁶⁾

CashFX

Finalmente

AIVTradeX - the page is titled copy of MTI.

²⁴⁾

²⁵⁾
Facebook

²⁶⁾

karatbars

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 01:36:04 +0000

Karatbars International GmbH

News

As of Dec 2020,Karatbars seemingly has imploded,with promises of converting and rebooting KCB and KBC to v999. Karatbars was told to wind up its business in Germany as of 2019 by the German regulator BaFin.¹⁾.

People Involved

Tony de Gouveia

Andrew Eaton

Cheri Ward

Clynton Marks

Brett Maaske

Bernard Swanevelder

Brendon Earp-Jones

Bruce Hughes

Adrian Pilling

Other Linked Projects

Freebay

KBC

KCB

g999

v999

GSB

Related - GSPartners, Karatbars Leaders & Investors Pool International, Karatbars Digital Stock Exchange, KC Bank, Karatbit

Info

Karatbars first appeared in 2011 as an MLM focused on Gold-sales,with affiliates buying packages to participate in the comission-sharing in a Binary structure.²⁾. Started by partners Harald Seiz and Josip Heit. Karatbars had failed Crypto ICOs in 2018,and 2019 before a disagreement split the founders (around the time of Karatbars' collapse)

In the News

Consumers warned to stay away from Karatbars - Business Live

Karatbars swims in murky waters - MoneyWeb

WATCH: If you have invested in Karatbars you may want to reconsider, FSCA issues warning IOL

Karatbars - is it a scam? - 702

BehindMLM -

Karatbars International - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international/karatbars-holds-july-4th-hype-event-karatgold-coin-dumps-62/

Karatbars International pyramid scheme warning issued in Namibia - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international/karatbars-international-pyramid-scheme-warning-issued-in-namibia/

Karatbars fraud warnings issued in Germany & South Africa - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international/karatbars-fraud-warnings-issued-in-germany-south-africa/

Karatbars lies to FSCA, regulator doesn’t care - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international/karatbars-lies-to-fsca-regulator-doesnt-care/

Karatbars International securities fraud warning from NZ - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international/karatbars-international-securities-fraud-warning-from-nz/

Freebay Review³⁾: Karatbars’ V999 Ponzi token reboot - https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/freebay-review-karatbars-v999-ponzi-token-reboot/

Karatbars – is it a scam? The case for and against ⁴⁾

¹⁾
https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/maerkte/devisen-rohstoffe/mutmasslicher-anlegerskandal-finanzaufsicht-bafin-stoppt-dubiose-goldgedeckte-kryptowaehrung-/25214818.html

²⁾
https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international-review-gold-and-recruitment/

³⁾
Ponzipedia

⁴⁾
https://www.capetalk.co.za/features/1/money/367008/karatbars-is-it-a-scam-the-case-for-and-against

katherinekorytkowski

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 03:03:07 +0000

Companies Involved In

MTI¹⁾

Evorich (SkyWay rebranded as EvoRich to avoid prosecution)²⁾ - BehindMLM

¹⁾
YouTube

²⁾
FaceBook

kbc

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:13:39 +0000

KaratBank Coin

An Ethereum based ICO released by Karatbars

From its marketing material: KaratBank Coin is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is linked to physically deposited gold in the form of the so-called CashGold.

Other Links

ICO Info - https://icotokennews.com/icos/karatbank/

Cease and Decist - https://www.coindesk.com/german-regulator-orders-karatgold-coin-issuer-to-cease-operations

BehindMLM Review - https://behindmlm.com/companies/karatbars-international-to-launch-karatbank-coin-ico/

kerching

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 21:49:21 +0000

Founded by Dr. Frans Swanepoel,linked to an organization called Grow Organic Plus and TCN4u (3card network 4 u),Ker-ching was a Cashback Loyalty Card MLM.

Frans Swanepoel seemingly was still active trying to acquire merchants for Kerching as of 2020-03¹⁾

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

Werner Hattingh

Brett Pretorius²⁾

Notable Promoters

Pastor Johan van Wyk - Solid Rock

Louis Mulder³⁾

Peter Lewis

Founder Video:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=368116947310786 https://youtu.be/bUZQUCuTgnU https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3vz8mm5XvbMwSaYnVMopDA https://www.facebook.com/TCN4U https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/micro-mobile-urban-organic-farm#/

¹⁾
https://soundcloud.com/peter-lewis-353401931/whatsapp-audio-2020-03-05-at-134651

²⁾

³⁾
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Entrepreneur/Ker-Ching-Pretoria-Moreleta-Park-2316296148610784/

kevin_meiring

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 06:15:54 +0000

Kevin Meiring

Member of Husband/Wife Team CKM Wealth Creators along with Charlene Meiring. Currently working for Aurum Wealth Creators

Known Schemes

MTI

Cascadetrade

Finalmente

CMCTrading

Beurax

Redox Trading LLC

Mining City

CenMiner

CoinbitPro

Karatbars

KBC

KCB

GSPartners

V999

G999

Silgonex

SilverChiefs

Crowd1

MillionMoney

Forsage

MyGBit

CashFX

QuBitLife

Other Links

Facebook

Linktree

CKM Wealth Creators Facebook

kipisa

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 22:25:24 +0000

Kipi South Africa A so-called stokvel, Kipi Investments – also known as Kipi Investment Dreams and Mydeposit247,started by Chris Walker (of DefenceX Ponzi). Kipi's official company line for its demise is attributed to a hacking incident¹⁾

Also Known As

My Deposit 247

My Deposit 241

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

Werner Hattingh

Kipi SA in the news

Suspected pyramid scheme Kipi Investments hacked - National Debt Advisors

Pyramid scams thriving in SA - IOL

Kipi SA - Website Informer

https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance/be-cautious-about-kipi-1856079

¹⁾
https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/business/2016-02-14-suspect-pyramid-scheme-blames-cash-standstill-on-hacking/

kobus_van_der_merwe

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:40:21 +0000

Kobus van der Merwe

Bio

Married to Ishyell van der Merwe (previously Ishyell Viljoen)¹⁾. Brother to Johan van der merwe (aka Johan Lambton)²⁾³⁾ Has deleted facebook profile since the demise of Finalmente. Recently surfaced in a video uploaded 23-01-2021⁴⁾ blaming his disappearance/silence on a security incident,necessitating the shutdown of Finalmente Global's platform. Below the video the description links to a comment form and a copy of the Liquidation notice,used as an excuse to shift blame to the Liquidation (and insinuating the members that requested it) for preventing any way of legitimately re-starting the platform.

Previous schemes

Managing Director of Finalmente⁵⁾

CEO of Cryptodash (ICO)

CEO of GlobeCoin (ICO)

Promotor⁶⁾⁷⁾ for AdsEarn Bitcoin (aka AdsEarn BTC), a bitcoin Ponzi scheme

https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/finalmente-global.1102402/

https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/finalmente-global-review-bitcoin-lending-ponzi-scheme/

https://behindmlm.com/companies/finalmente-global-ponzi-scheme-collapses/

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

leonardgray

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 08:49:04 +0000

Leonard Wesley Gray

Leonard is currently the head of MTI's Legal Department and a super shill for MLM scams.

It is believed that Leonard was married to Cheri Ward (now Marks), before her current marriage to Clynton Marks.

He is a non-practicing attorney.¹⁾ As the Head of Legal, Leonard has on multiple occasions sent legal threats via WhatsApp & Facebook to persons questioning the legality of MTI.

Its currently unknown if MTI has anyone else in their Legal department, or if they perhaps outsource legal aspects of the business to a 3rd party practicing firm.

Companies Involved In

MTI

¹⁾
LPC

lethaguilar

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 04:01:15 +0000

Leth Aguilar

Vocal Promoter

Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/LethAguilar

Investor / Team Leader at MTI Business - Mirror Trading Club

Shareholder / Consultant at SkyWay Partners International

Consultant at Heart & Body Naturals Products

Previously promoted PGI¹⁾.

¹⁾

lifestyle_galaxy

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 01:35:54 +0000

Lifestyle Galaxy

A reboot of Dragon Mine,Lifestyle Galaxy was a multilevel marketing (MLM), cryptocurrency mining scam

People Involved

Tony de Gouveia

Andrew Eaton

Bruce Hughes

Brendon Earp-Jones

Adrian Pilling

Sources

Lifestyle Galaxy Review: Dragon Mine rebooted after collapse

lizaansheppard

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 08:41:49 +0000

Lizaan Sheppard

FB tag line "Whistle while you Hustle"

Accused by social media of targeting soft targets for MTI mostly pensioners

Companies Involved In

MTI

As at 2020/10/30 claims to have recruited 1200 depositors into MTI with total deposits equal to 90 BTC.¹⁾

References & Links

Facebook

Crypto Growth Collectiv - YouTube Channel

Crypto Growth Collectiv Facebook Page

¹⁾
Citation Needed

lizmalton

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:01:59 +0000

Liz Strutt Malton

Previous Scams

MMM¹⁾

MTI²⁾

GPX

USI-TECH

Freedom Global

BTC Global³⁾

Crypto World Evolution⁴⁾⁵⁾

Thrive⁶⁾

Bio

Liz Strutt Malton has a history of scamming the system and using multiple accounts, befriending insiders and making threats and using bullying to get results without verification being completed in order to fund a lavish lifestyle.⁷⁾. Her well-documented history in promoting, marketing and participating in various scams is a testament that Liz is a career scammer.

Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Liz proceeded to scrub her Facebook account of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

This tactic can be seen that individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing before moving on to the next scam. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect as it gives the impression that these promoters were aware the companies they were promoting were scams since the beginning, and the only reason they promote these companies is for personal gain.

Liz also made a public post saying that she was betrayed by MTI and believed it to be a legitimate business, and she tries to distance herself from the scheme claiming she was never part of the management team. The fact that she was one of the most vocal shills for MTI and her history in scams makes it quite clear that Liz knew MTI was a scam from the day she joined. She had herself listed as a founding member on her Facebook page⁸⁾, and had created two other pages for MTI that have since been deleted(https://www.facebook.com/MTILizStruttMalton and https://www.facebook.com/PassiveIncomeLizMalton). She also calls herself Clynton Marks' a “dear friend and business partner” ⁹⁾.

¹⁾
Helping Hands - Liz Malton's page - MMM Helping Hands

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾
Scam Busters

⁸⁾

⁹⁾

lmgray

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 May 2021 09:09:19 +0000

Leonard Gray (not to be confused with MTI Legal Leonard Gray) / Nicci Gray

A father and daughter “business” team. It states on their contact page²⁷⁾ that they are only members of MTI - alongside several other suspect Ponzi scheme and pyramid schemes.²⁸⁾

Companies Promoting

MTI

Finiko

Mining City

Finalmente

Finfine Digital Hedge Fund

²⁷⁾
LM Gray

²⁸⁾
Leonard and Niccy Gray - LM Gray

louis_liebenberg

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 15:03:11 +0000

Louis Petrus Liebenberg

Biography

Louis Petrus Liebenberg is a well known South African serial Ponzi scheme promotor, failed business owner and con man. He has been behind many ponzi type schemes and scams including: Tariomix, Forever Diamonds & Gold, Wealth 4U Mining & Exploration, Zircon, and Tariopart Pty (Ltd), trading as Gold Nugget.

Modus Operandi

Louis is flamboyant and uses his sales charm to lure innocent victims. He openly admitted to pocketing R30m from his failed Wealth 4U scam . He often places the blame on 3rd parties such as the media for his failed scams. Louis has clear delusions of grandeur claiming connections with the mafia as well as buying racing horses and farms to rub shoulders with the rich & famous.

Typically, his scams are recycled concepts of previous versions involving the supposed buying and selling of minerals such as gold and diamonds. Louis claims to have access to a network of undisclosed sellers of these minerals and gives his victims the opportunity to buy “parcels” or pakkies” at a low price and then sell at a high return. In some cases Louis has offered investors up to 5 times their initial investments in 21 days. These scams rely on new investments to pay for the return for existing investments to keep the scam going.

His latest modus operandi is to target predominantly Afrikaans people via media channels and donations, using religion to add legitimacy and peace of mind to his scams.

Bad Press & Court cases

With disgruntled investors mounting over failed scams, Louis was featured in a Carte Blance episode.

There is also a YouTube channel dedicated to Louis Liebenberg (presumably run by a disgruntled investor) that shows Louis’ odd and openly racist behaviour.

lucas_wolmarans

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:49:00 +0000

MTI VP.

My Financial Advantage

madelynroose

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:35:39 +0000

Madelyn Roose was heavily involved as one of the founders of BTC Global.²⁹⁾

She passed away and her son, Vince Scharneck, continues her legacy.

Companies Involved In

BTC Global

My Daily Choice³⁰⁾

Nu-Skin³¹⁾

²⁹⁾
Madelyns Story

³⁰⁾
https://za.linkedin.com/in/madelyn-roose-24511734

³¹⁾
https://za.linkedin.com/in/madelyn-roose-76a3942b

map

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 18:27:31 +0000

Ponzi/Pyramid scheme run by Jeff Cullis.

Marketing video - ¹⁾ - Vimeo

FinelineVCard - Facebook²⁾

¹⁾

²⁾

marinusbell

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 19:48:56 +0000

Founding member and promoter and supporter of MTI¹⁾.

Companies

Neuro-link - as referenced by Nashua - Paperless Classrooms in SA Inevitable or Doubtful - and the main website - https://neurolink.company/cms/

Micro-MBA - Micro-MBA

Optima Training and Development - Quicket Workshop Booking - now known as Ukuvuna Training and Development (2019/318706/07)- Facebook page²⁾

Marinus Bell Consulting - (2018/201829/07)

In this phone conversation (ZIP file Marinus says he has moved all BTC received from MTI into a secure wallet pending the outcome from the liquidation application as to whether MTI is a functional company or not.

mbell.zip

¹⁾
Deposits -
Withdrawals -

²⁾

matthew_roelofse

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:33:23 +0000

Matthew Roelofse

Bio

Matthew Roelofse listed himself as IT Administrator for Finalmente Global on his Linkedin¹⁾. Also known to post at least one Fake Review to Scamadviser²⁾ extolling the virtues of Finalmente Global. He also did Promo videos³⁾ for Finalmente Global published to Youtube⁴⁾ and linked to from Finalmente Global's Linkedin Page

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

michael_peter_simmonds

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:05:31 +0000

Michael Peter (Mike) Simmonds

Bio

Brother of Major MTI Promotor Rich Simmonds. Father of Nicole Simmonds. Based on Social media history he's a long-time supporter of primarily Donation Scams

Previous Schemes

The Billion Coin (TBC)³²⁾

Betgamesport_Bet635Sport³³⁾³⁴⁾

Freedom Global³⁵⁾

MTI³⁶⁾

Crowd Rising³⁷⁾

ZARFund³⁸⁾

Crypto Wealth³⁹⁾

Bitknock⁴⁰⁾

MMM⁴¹⁾

Other Links

* Facebook1 https://www.facebook.com/michael.simmonds3 * Facebook2 https://www.facebook.com/michael.peter.simmonds.2308

³²⁾

³³⁾

³⁴⁾

³⁵⁾

³⁶⁾

³⁷⁾

³⁸⁾

³⁹⁾

⁴⁰⁾

⁴¹⁾

mindcapital

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 17:09:30 +0000

Securities Ponzi MLM

Mind Capital denies securities fraud (lol), reveals Ponzi execs - BehindMLM

miningcity

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:05:21 +0000

A Ponzi/pyramid investment scheme that paid users in Bitcoin Vault tokens.

People Involved

Johan van Wyk

Liz Malton

Sebasa Mogale (TV and radio personality)

Mpho Dagada (aka. Mr Bitcoin)

In the News

Mining City a Ponzi scheme, confirms Phillipine SEC - BehindMLM

Philippines Regulator Warns Investors to Steer Clear of Mining City's Bitcoin Vault Ponzi - Bitcoin.com

Mining City Review: Bitcoin mining securities fraud investment scheme - BehindMLM

Former SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Thobela FM drive show host Sebasa Mogale, 52, and his wife Dorah Mogale,44, have appeared before the Polokwane Magistrate’s court, facing allegations of fraud emanating from a cryptocurrency Bitcoin scam. ¹⁾

¹⁾
Former SABC presenter Sebasa Mogale and wife arrested for Bitcoin scam, released on bail | https://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/former-sabc-presenter-sebasa-mogale-and-wife-arrested-for-bitcoin-scam-released-on-bail-a61a9d87-e9a2-46b5-b2ab-b19c9ccd5471

mmm

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 17:35:21 +0000

Background

MMM Global (also known as МММ-2011 / МММ-2012) is a Ponzi scheme launched in 2011 by Sergei Mavrodi, with subsidiaries in up to 110 countries; it became widely popular in various African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ghana with some attributing this popularity to poverty and poor government regulation or law enforcement.

People Involved

Liz Malton

Clynton Marks

Cheri Ward / Marks / Gray

Andrew Caw

Werner Hatting

Promotion of MMM on Youtube

A video of Cheri Ward shamelessly promoting MMM

A Screenshot of Clynton Marks promoting MMM below:

Withdrawals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIjP7Hdkg4w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiGV3aSVuWE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiafgYPDN_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcv4tJOVM_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXrUoOoQdI8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvzfIcCcNGI

Presentation * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu5qOZii3YQ

Cheri Ward / Marks / Gray

Withdrawal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5LkwNyNaJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2UxteTYeVE

In the News

MMM Under Investigation - 702

More MMM victims come forward as losses run into millions - https://www.news24.com/fin24/myfin24/more-mmm-victims-come-forward-as-losses-run-into-millions-20170720

MMM: I lost R90 000 instead of becoming a millionaire in 6 months - https://www.news24.com/fin24/MyFin24/mmm-i-lost-r90-000-instead-of-becoming-a-millionaire-in-6-months-20170714

Wikipedia

MMM Global - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM_Global

“South Africa - In 2015, MMM began operating in South Africa with the same business model as MMM-2011, claiming a “30% per month” return through a “social financial network”.[2] The group was identified as a possible pyramid scheme by the National Consumer Commission and accounts of clients were later frozen by Capitec Bank.[3] In response to mounting criticism and official investigations by state authorities in 2016, supporters of the South African MMM scheme staged a protest march in Johannesburg.[4] and had started up again in late November 2016.”

In The Media

Helping Hands - Liz Malton's page - MMM Helping Hands

Liz Malton - https://youtu.be/pT_lKRiI3gQ

monicacoetzee

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:06:51 +0000

Monica Coetzee

Born 13 November 1973 Monica is currently part of the Board of Directors (NonExec) of MTI as Head of Corporate Services.¹⁾²⁾³⁾

Although she appears to be trying to clean up her Facebook profile⁴⁾ she still has links to MTI on her Twitter account⁵⁾.

Previously a trainer and presenter.⁶⁾

She has a history in legal and estate agency services and holds an NQF4 and NQF5 in Real Estate.⁷⁾

She also previously promoted Bitclub Network.⁸⁾

Links

Facebook

¹⁾
Zoom meeting with Peter Muller - YouTube

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾
LinkedIn

⁸⁾

mti_news

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:04:15 +0000

Main MTI information page

Mirror Trading International

2022-01-07 MTI CEO ARRESTED IN BRAZIL

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/429318-mirror-trading-international-ceo-johann-steynberg-arrested-reports.html

2021-07-07 - MTI FACES R100 MILLION FINE

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/405201-mirror-trading-international-faces-r100-million-fine.html

2021-07-02 - 8000 MORE BTC TRACED

https://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-crypto/mti-placed-in-final-liquidation-8-000-more-bitcoin-traced

2021-06-30 - FINAL LIQUIDATION ORDER APPROVED

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/404277-mirror-trading-international-hit-with-final-liquidation-order.html

2021-06-15 - JUDGEMENT RESERVED IN FINAL LIQUIDATION

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/401831-massive-fight-to-block-mirror-trading-international-liquidation.html

2021-04-01 - 1281 PREVIOUSLY FROZEN BITCOIN RECOVERED FROM FXCHOICE

MTI liquidators recover R1.1bn in bitcoin Mirror Trading International (MTI) provisional liquidators have recovered 1 281 bitcoin, worth more than R1.1 billion at current prices, from the collapsed scheme.

FXChoice confirmed the same on 2021-03-29

Hello everyone,

We just wanted to update this thread with the latest, and as far as we’re concerned last, development.

The FSCA have authorised the dispersal of MTI’s frozen funds at FXChoice to the appointed liquidators. We confirm that the transfer has now been completed and we consider the matter closed.

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, and we wish you all the very best.

FXChoice

MTI final liquidation hearing postponed until May

MTI final liquidation hearing postponed until May

The application for the final liquidation of Mirror Trading International (MTI) has been postponed until May 31, apparently by groups who believe the company can still be saved.

Moneyweb understands three groups are opposing the final liquidation in favour of business rescue, alternatively that they be allowed to restructure the company’s debts in terms of a Section 155 (of the Companies Act) compromise.

MTI WAS 2020's BIGGEST INVESTMENT SCAM - CHAIN ANALYSIS FIRM STATES

MTI was by far 2020’s biggest investment scam – Chainalysis

FSCA RELEASES MTI FINDINGS

FSCA Completes Investigation into MTI 19.01.2021 - FSCA (PDF)

MTI ON CARTE BLANCHE 2021-01-17

Direct Youtube Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=bsIB27--koM

The Marks' legal response to Carte Blanche linked here¹⁾.

In the News

Vanishing act: Only the missing CEO of bitcoin trader MTI can give answers, says employee - News24

Allegations, denials, and contradictions in multi-billion MTI saga - Mybroadband

MTI Bitcoin ‘trading’ scheme leads to wine, antidepressants and tears - Citizen

LIQUIDATORS APPOINTMENTS

The four liquidators have been appointed by the Master of the High Court²⁾.

The four liquidators are:

Adriaan van Rooyen - Investrust

Herman Bester - Tygerberg Trustees

Jacolien Frieda Barnard - Tshwelopele Trust

Deidre Basson - Tshwane Trust

In the News

Carte Blanche Reveals 300,000 Lost Life Savings in SA Bitcoin Scheme MTI - SA People

Shock announcement in multi-billion Mirror Trading International bitcoin scheme - Mybroadband

Liquidators seek expanded probe of alleged South African Bitcoin scheme - Coin Telegraph

As Hawks start probe of MTI, investigators link with team working on alleged 2018 Ponzi scam - News24

ANONYMOUS LEAK OF BACKEND

A recent leak by Anonymous reveals the extent to which the leaders and main players in the scam have benefitted through defrauding unsuspecting investors.

In the News

New data breach exposes Mirror Trading International’s top earners - Mybroadband

MTI Bitcoins Sent to Privacy Mixers as New Data Breach Exposes the Ponzi Scheme's Top Earners - Bitcoin.com

OPENING A CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST MTI

Information as given on Mirror Trading International Scam - Facebook page³⁾. This useful info was provided by a member who contacted SAPS to file a criminal complaint against the main players in MTI.

What you need to know when opening a case at SAPS against MTI:

Make sure you have all these details with you :

1. Date you opened your MTI account

2. Proof of how much you funded your accounts with (bank statements or screenshots of your wallet account, preferably both) showing dates of transactions.

3. Screenshot of your dashboard showing your BTC amount

4. Screenshots of your pending withdrawals if any

5. Include the names, ID numbers and phone numbers of MTI Directors & Management:

Johann Steynberg : ID: 8307135016088 Cell: 0722034238

Clynton Marks : ID: 7002135185089 Cell: 0715095266

Cheri Marks : ID: 8502070321085 Cell: 0629285973

Monica Coetzee : ID: 7311300006081 Cell: 0727469875

Leonard Gray: ID: 8208185051084

Elizabeth Kathleen Malton (Liz Malton) ID: 6208040042080

Charles Ward: ID: 8709295183089

Vincent Ward: ID: 9005285128008

Matshidiso Ramanamane: ID: 7901220292082

Nerina Steynberg : ID: 8203100219080 Cell: 0632002746

6. Add these addresses:

Monica Coetzee : 14 Juniper Street Randpark Ridge, Randburg.

Cheri and Clynton Marks : Unit 4, 24 Monteith Place, Monteith Estate Durban North, 3731

(This information is public knowledge already).

7 : Address and company details : Mirror Trading International reg : 2019/205570/07 43 Plein Street Stelenbosch

8 : Printed final statement from MTI

Do not include in your statement the Case number for the FSCA. This just confuses matters.

The SAPS will sms you the case number once it's registered you must please send it to andrea.coetzer@fsca.co.za to complete the process.

Report a Crime - South Africa.

South African Police Service

https://www.saps.gov.za/services/report_crime.php

FSCA

https://www.fsca.co.za/Pages/Default.aspx

South African Fraud Prevention Service

https://www.safps.org.za/Home/FraudPrevention_CommonFraudScams

South African Revenue Service

https://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/default.aspx

2021 MTI UPDATES

Warning to Mirror Trading International members - Mybroadband

FBI jumps onto MTI investigation - Moneyweb

Striking similarities between Mirror Trading International and BTC Global - Mybroadband

MTI'S DEMISE IN THE NEWS

RSG se Geldsake met Moneyweb – Woensdag 23 Desember 2020 - RSG (from 08:30)

Liquidators swarm MTI - Moneyweb

South African Regulator's Probe Into Mirror Trading International Unearths Previously Undeclared Losses and Missing Bitcoins - Bitcoin.com

MTI announcement throws CEO and wife under the bus - BehindMLM

MTI does not know if its bitcoin is safe - Moneyweb

Mirror Trading International CEO missing as clients struggle to withdraw funds - Mybroadband

MTI CEO goes AWOL, lawyers pull out - Moneyweb

CEO of MTI Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme Flees South Africa in Possible Exit Scam – Funds Blocked - Bitcoin.com

JUST IN | Court grants provisional liquidation order against Stellenbosch Bitcoin trader MTI - News24

Words on Wealth: Huge losses on the cards for unsuspecting MTI investors - IOL

SA investors unable to redeem more than R9 billion deposits in cryptocurrency scheme - IOL

SA Bitcoin CEO Disappears With Over 9 Billion Investors Money - SA Rich and Famous

High Court grants provisional liquidation order against Mirror Trading International - Mybroadband

MTI placed in provisional liquidation and damage could be huge - Moneyweb

MTI Voorlopig Gelikwideer - Maroela Media

As Hawks start probe into MTI, anxious investors pray they can still get something out - Fin24

** MTI'S OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO THE DEBACLE **

MTI Statement (PDF file) - dated 22.12.2020.

The Zoom meeting (removed - new link https://youtu.be/8Ep3-7FS2zw) (dated 22.12.2020) that prompted the above letter.

** ULRICH ROUX AND ASSOCIATES WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEYS FOR MTI**

Ulrich Roux and Associates (URA) have just released a statement (PDF format) clarifying their role in MTI and their reasons for terminating the relationship.

Based on several MTI members saying they wouldn't have invested with MTI if URA hadn't endorsed them ⁴⁾, URA sent out this email. This

recording

is the interview referred to.

** MTI UPLINES FOUND WIPING THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES AFTER JOHANN'S DISAPPEARANCE **

It has come to our attention that after the reported disappearance of Johann Steynberg, several staff and high level promoters of MTI have attempted to wipe their association from their respective social media channels including Facebook and YouTube. Most evident of this is Colin Daly - Crypto Stacks 369, who has made Private all videos promoting MTI from his Youtube channel. Other notable members have all but erased mention of MTI on their social media, or outright deleted videos.

** OFFICIAL MTI NOTICE OF JOHANN STEYNBERG'S DISAPPEARANCE OVERSEAS 19-12-2020 **

A notice was posted late afternoon 19.12.2020 of the disappearance of Johann Steynberg on Official Telegram groups and Confirmed by Cheri Marks as having disappeared 14-12-2020 after leaving for Overseas 03-12-2020 ⁵⁾.

IRS Forensic Investigations - Facebook - Missing Persons Request⁶⁾.

** FSCA RADIO INTERVIEW WITH RSG GELDSAKE,MORE INFORMATION ON CASE **

Moneyweb - RSG Geldsake - FSCA lê 'n kriminele klang teen MTI - English transcription can be seen in the footnote⁷⁾.

** FSCA OPEN CASE WITH SAPS - 17 DECEMBER 2020 **

The FSCA have released a public statement claiming they have opened up a criminal case with the SAPS in regards to MTI.

FCSA Statement

MTI's response with clarification from Brandon Topham, FSCA.
FSCA opens criminal case against MTI, says investigation ‘nearly complete’. MTI responds that this is another attempt by the FSCA to destroy its business.

The case number is 245/11/2020 and can be confirmed on 021 809 9142 - SAPS Stellenbosch.

For more information on the Trade300 website.

In the News

South African Regulator's Probe Into Mirror Trading International Unearths Previously Undeclared Losses and Missing Bitcoins - Bitcoin.com

South African Regulator’s Probe Into Mirror Trading International Unearths Previously Undeclared Losses and Missing Bitcoins - Cryptocurrency Updates

Cheri Marks accuses FSCA of lying about criminal investigation - BehindMLM

Regulator opens a criminal case against Stellenbosch-headquartered company fingered as 'get-rich-quick scheme'- News24

** MTI WITHDRAWALS EXPERIENCING ISSUES **

Multiple members have started complaining about deposits and withdrawals not showing up in their accounts.

MTI Current Issues

=== 26 October 2020 - (MTI Mirror Trading International) FSCA RAID ===

It has been confirmed that The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) raided the offices of Mirror Trading International (MTI) in Stellenbosch and Polokwane on the 26th of October 2020. Further raids & seizures were performed at Cheri Marks & Clynton Hugh Marks' mansion in Durban together with the home of CEO, Johann Steynberg

South African Regulator Raids Home of Key Members of an Alleged Crypto Ponzi Scheme

Mirror Trading International offices raided

SA Bitcoin Company Raided

Bitcoin Company Raided by FSCA

Bitcoin company says FSCA raid is a personal vendetta

FSCA Allegedly Raids Principal Members of MTI

Mirror Trading International Offices Raided by SA Authorities

MTI to restrict withdrawals with KYC in November

South African Regulator Raids Home of Key Members of an Alleged Crypto Ponzi Scheme

Topham refutes allegations that the FSCA lied to the courts in pursuit of its investigations into MTI.

“We also place on record that demonstrations have been made to us with the view to convincing us that live trading was taking place and that bitcoin balances existed,” says Topham.

“We can only say at this stage that we have not been able to independently confirm the accuracy of this demonstration and contradictory information has also been received.”

Proof of MTI's BTC being moved from FXChoice to Trade300 was given in the form of this PDF file.

MTI plans countersuit after FSCA raid on offices and homes of execs

Regulator raids Mirror Trading International, says it is ready to defend countersuit

700 Million Rand in investor bitcoins spent on online gambling

According to a Techcentral article on the Anonymous_ZA leak, we can see a MTI bitcoin wallet and its online transactions.

3755 Bitcoins (over R700 million) of investors bitcoins was sent to an online gambling website called Cloudbet.com

¹⁾
A few points have been publicly by Cheri and Clyntonas can be seen by these screenshots -

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Andre: “The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has opened a criminal case against Mirror Trading International (MTI) . The FSCA has also said that its investigation into the company is almost finished. MTI says it uses a computer program or bot which trades in bitcoin and which can generate profits of up to 10% per month for its members. The group alleges it has more than 280 000 members all over the world who together own about 17 000 bitcoin, which is about R5,8 billion in bitcoin, and the most recent announcement of the criminal case follows after the FSCA conducted a search and seizure raid on several offices and houses of senior executives of MTA a few months ago. On the line is Gerhard van Deventer. He is the head investigator at FSCA. “Gerhard, welcome to the program. You say in your statement you think MTI is an illegal business. What are these apparently illegal operations?”

Van Deventer: “Good Evening André. The basis of what MTI does, according to them, is that they receive Bitcoin from the public or from their clients and they then pool it in their company, and as you said they have this bot which trades and generates very, very good profits, very unrealistic profits. So, in our books, and this is why we are involved, this is typically asset management – so a category 2 license. What actually happens is that their clients’ bitcoin goes to MTI’s bitcoin wallets and from there it goes in all directions. It is very difficult to keep up with where it went, but we have put in a lot of effort to find out where and on which platform it has been traded and we have followed up every single platform which they have mentioned to us, contacted these platforms and tried to get confirmation from them… and it is just not true.”

Andre: “So is there 17 000 bitcoin which was invested by 280 000 members?”

Van Deventer: “No. If there is, we have definitely not found it yet. But keep in mind we asked them: tell us where it has been invested, tell us where it has been traded and then we can follow it up and we can confirm it, and they have done that. If we throw all these platforms together then I can tell you briefly, the whole thing started at FX Choice. That is were they apparently traded. FX Choice is a regulated platform in Belize, so they have cooperated very well. There is .. there were a few transactions in Steynberg’s name, but what happened then is that clients of MTI started contacting FX Choice and said these are our statements – we have questions about them and FX Choice told us that those statements were obviously not real transactions. They were what are called demo accounts on which you can play and get a little experience. And those demonstration accounts were taken and adapted and given to clients. That led to FX Choice freezing whatever was on their platforms because they realized: here is a problem. And I think if I can remember … that is just about 1,28 bitcoin. So this is what we could find. We found a small amount of bitcoin in Steynbergs's name on another platform but that really makes no difference and of course their version is that they eventually – to get out from under our jurisdiction – they moved everything to a platform with the name of Trade300 and that is where all these riches lie now. We have tried our very best to find Trade300. There is no trace of this platform. There is a website and all there is on this website is that it is under construction or something and the contact person is Joe Steyn. Now we know that Joe Steyn is an alias for Johan Steynberg. What we did find, which is interesting, is that when we confiscated the computers, that on the computers there is clear proof that Trade 300 was created from these computers. There are requests from Steynberg that the email addresses should be created and the website should be put up. So we don’t believe that there will be any bitcoin there.”

Andre: “So Johan Steynberg to who you referred to is the head executive and the person behind MTI. So, according to you, this is one big Ponzi?“

Van Deventer: “I think so. I think Ponzi is surely the right term here. Look we have naturally passed it all on to the prosecution authorities because it doesn’t really matter what you call it. In our opinion there are gross misrepresentations being made to the public, to their clients, to us … so whatever you call it, it is clear that we have a big problem here.“

Andre: “You are still busy with your investigation, but has the FSCA ever opened a criminal case against an entity or individual before the investigation was finished?“

Van Deventer: “Yes, yes, it happens. It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes one finds something which is really worrying and then we act very quickly, to at least, if there is something to protect, we can protect it. So it is a bit like a fire brigade. If we see there is a problem we act quickly. Look these investigations take a long time. It’s an awful lot of work and I have a big team on it, including external experts, but in the meantime we are constantly in contact with the prosecution authorities so that we can be sure we are doing what they want. And because of the nature of the case we will keep on supporting them in future if they want to take the case forward.“

Andre: “Some members allege they wanted to withdraw their money from MTI, but they couldn’t. There was a problem. Have you received such complaints?”

Van Deventer: “Yes, we have received such complaints in the past two weeks. You will remember that we have warned the public to withdraw their money – that there is a clear problem here – so yes, unfortunately this has become true. Look, MTI has lots of explanations for this of course.. technical problems they say .. nothing to be worried about … they are working on it …, but I am not too surprised this has happened and we have those complaints.”

Andre: ”MTI has confirmed .. said to Moneyweb the FSCA doesn’t understand MTI’s business and the FSCA just wants to sink this business. What is your reaction on this?“

Van Deventer: “Yes, we understand very well what is happening here because we have seen this a lot. It is a highly technical environment, of course. I mean if you work with bitcoin and platforms and so on, so we have an external team of experts who assist us full time. But the truth is we have no reason to shut down a place if they are not acting illegally. We have no interest in anything so we have tried very hard to follow the bitcoin .. to follow the wallets etc. , but unfortunately it is a very difficult area because it is not so easy to identify the owners. But no .. there is no personal feeling from our side. We are just doing the work.”

Andre: “Gerhard, thanks for your time tonight. This was Gerhard van Deventer. He is the head of investigations at the FSCA. Just for the record .. I did contact MTI to participate in tonight's talk, but they did not react.”

mti

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:53:22 +0000

Mirror Trading International

The latest news for MTI can be found here: MTI News

Background

Official name Mirror Trading International

Website https://mirrortradinginternational.com/

Launched July 2019

Type of Scheme Investment Ponzi MLM

Type of Exit Hacking/Missing CEO

Mirror Trading International (MTI) is a South African-based and registered company ¹⁾²⁾³⁾⁴⁾ currently involved in an online investment scheme estimated to have obtained over four billion South African rands worth of bitcoin, and has been accused of fraud by governmental bodies internationally.

Chainanalysis.com released a report in September 2020 highlighting MTI as a growing scam receiving the most cryptocurrency from Africa, surpassing SBlock⁵⁾ in November 2019.

It is an investment scheme where members entrust a fictional artificial intelligence trading bot to produce returns. MTI claims that this bot traded in crypto and forex. Members of this scheme are also encouraged and financially incentivized to receive bonus payouts if they recruit more members to join under them. Repeated attempts by members and the public to obtain verification and confirmation of this trading bot have been met with resistance. MTI has been unable to prove the existence of their bot, and simply reiterate “there are no unhappy MTI members” as proof of their legitimacy.

MTI has on occasion presented select “live trading” videos. Although it is impossible to determine whether these videos are indeed “live” or not, it has come to light that one video showed a demo trading account being used (with no actual money traded), and in another video the “bot” only managed to lose money during the trading session.

MTI's previous broker, FXChoice, confirmed that no AI trading took place ⁶⁾⁷⁾ from their account during the time that MTI was a client; instead, manual trades were made, which incurred substantial losses. MTI's account was subsequently closed by FXChoice due to non-compliance, and MTI did not bother to submit the correct verification documents. MTI claimed that they moved to a new broker, but refused to identify the broker to their members or the public. Instead, they sent this PDF file to the FSCA as proof of MTI's BTC being moved from FXChoice to Trade300, being the new top-secret broker. Since then, Trade300 has been confirmed as a fictitious broker with a website designed by Johann Steynberg.

Apart from being a registered South African company, MTI has no affiliations or accreditations with any financial body worldwide. At this point in time, they have not performed any independent audits and have no KYC or FICA procedures in place. Additionally, their yearly financial statements are currently outstanding. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has issued a warning against MTI, and recommends that clients request refunds from them as soon as possible.

Due to the unrealistic level of investment returns, lack of transparency, lack of basic business governance and compliance, known involvement in past Ponzi schemes of top management, and general cult mentality of this scheme, MTI has been receiving all the wrong types of attention.

Once a scheme has been declared a pyramid scheme and the money invested by participants has been recovered, victims are then compensated by the National Consumer Commission, however, no compensation is payable to participants of the scheme who knew that they were joining or participating in a pyramid scheme.⁸⁾

(Emphasis added.)

** MTI WITHDRAWALS EXPERIENCING ISSUES **

Multiple members have started complaining about deposits and withdrawals not showing up in their accounts.

See MTI Issues.

With the onset of so many withdrawal issues, MTI started a Tech Assist Telegram group monitored by volunteers. Cheri and Monica frequented the group, amongst many other top tier leaders. The text can be found in the following documents:

techassist_telegram1.zip

techassist_telegram2.zip

techassist_telegram3.zip

techassist_telegram4.zip

Mirror Trading International offices raided

It has been confirmed that The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) raided the offices of Mirror Trading International (MTI) in Stellenbosch and Polokwane on the 26th of October 2020. Further raids & seizures were performed at Cheri Ward & Clynton Hugh Marks' mansion in Durban together with the home of CEO, Johann Steynberg

Further details can be seen at MTI Raid.

MTI's Claims

There are various reasons to doubt MTI's claims that this AI trading bot actually exists and is making a consistent ~1% daily profit. There are also various reasons to doubt that MTI's leadership knows anything at all about running a business.

In this video, all MTI corporate can be seen trying to distance themselves from the fall-out.

More details can be found on MTI Claims.

Governmental Accusations of Fraud

The Texas State Securities Board has served MTI with a cease-and-desist order—a US Government document signed by the securities commissioner—which concludes, among other things, that “Mirror Trading International and Steynberg are engaging in fraud in connection with the offer for sale of securities.”

The Canadian financial regulator, AMF, has placed MTI on their list of financially fraudulent organizations⁹⁾.

Mauritius also listed MTI as a fraudulent company (PDF file).

Anonymous_ZA expose of MTI

Anonymous ZA was able to access all of MTI's client information. They created an anonymized database of the data and a website on the Tor network to expose what they found.

While the site has been taken down, a printout from the front page can be found here. The sql file can be downloaded here - SQL file.

Text files of the users and their down lines, emails and the top vocal promoters can be found here -

MTI Pyramid - User numbers - ZIP file

Usernames and email addresses - ZIP file

Vocal Promoters and Pyramid sizes - ZIP file

Download and install

Tor Browser

Run Tor

Paste the following link inside your Tor browser

http://s2mfew43os4nrxvf.onion/uts/

MTILeaks on Github

The original MTI Leaks website is no longer available on the Tor network, but you can find mirroring of the information and data on this website: MTILeaks/Github

Download the database from the Anonymous_ZA expose of MTI

While the site has been taken down, a printout from the front page can be found here. The sql file can be downloaded here - SQL file.

You can find a searchable backup of the Anonymous database expose at unrulyurbanist.co.za

The backend

The codebase behind mymticlub.com MTILeaks

The software that is used on mticlub.com is a fork of code by an Indian company known as Maxtra Technologies (https://maxtratechnologies.com/))

MaxtraTech includes Mirror Trading International as a reference in its web site (https://www.maxtratechnologies.com/portfolio.php)) along with other similar MLM type sites. MaxtraTech seems to specialize in creating web sites for MLM type sites.

The MTI web site is now hosted directly in India at Maxtra Technologies. A 3 year old version of the code behind mymticlub.com was found on: https://github.com/sandeep741/tiods/blob/master/ and corresponds largely to the code use in the MTI backoffice, with SQL injection and enumeration vulnerabilities kindly included. In fact, any web developer perusing the mymticlub.com interface, and the “sandeep741” code will reveal how similar it is.

Maxtratech seems to be MTI's mymticlub.com integrator, hosting provider and partner. Even a few simple DNS queries by a non-illustrious hacker will confirm…

People Involved

For a full list and all details on founders, directors, promoters and suspicious investors, please go to People Involved.

Mirror Trading International in the news & Links

26 October 2020 - Breaking News

Mirror Trading Clients Should Take Their Money and Run, South African Regulator Advises - Coindesk

South African Crypto Investment Company Issued Cease And Desist Order - Bitcoin.com

Explosive information about Mirror Trading International released by Anonymous ZA - MyBroadband

Blockchain proves MTI is a scam - Jun 2020 - PDF Analysis -Chain Analysis PDF Page 21

Blockchain proves MTI is a scam - Jun 2020 - Article - Global Crypto

FSCA Press Release 18 August 2020

FSCA Topham slams cryptocurrencies - Business Insider Oct 2020

African Crisis - (Offline - original article to be found here - History Reviewed

MASSIVE Bitcoin Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme MTI

Get-rich-quick scheme pulls a crowd, despite regulators calling time-out

Joining MTI may end in tears

The Biggest Financial Scam in S.African History

Mirror Trading International Review: Forex trading daily returns - BehindMLM

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S Block Review: SBO token wallet app Ponzi scheme

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“MTI's claims of using artificial intelligence software is inaccurate. Before the account was blocked, they executed just a few trading operations, which were performed manually, were large and incurred substantial losses.”

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Schindlers

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BehindMLM

mticlaims

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 07:06:25 +0000

MTI's Claims

There are various reasons to doubt MTI's claims that this AI trading bot actually exists and is making a consistent ~1% daily profit. There are also various reasons to doubt that MTI's leadership knows anything at all about running a business.

In this video, all MTI corporate can be seen trying to distance themselves from the fall-out.

MTI claims that they have exclusive access to a proprietary bot which shows consistent daily returns. The concept of having a “big black box” that is able to magically make money, is not a new concept. This is a proven concept used in various scams, somewhere the very management of MTI has been involved with in the past.

The alleged creator of the bot has not been named, nor have any details been provided regarding the technologies used, but MTI's descriptions of the bot bear striking resemblance to other clearly fraudulent claims of advanced trading bots.

This claim can be supported by MTI mentioning that they have to pay a certain amount of Bitcoin per month in order to use this proprietary bot, almost like a subscription service or a licensing agreement.

Anyone with basic experience in trading knows that consistent positive returns are essentially impossible. Up to date, MTI has only had one negative trading day since its inception.¹⁾²⁾

Even if such a bot had existed, with the extent of MTI's claimed assets under management, consistent returns would be impossible because they would move the market. There would be no-one to take the other side of the trade in order for MTI's bot to actually make a profit.

The creator of such a bot would hardly need to share it with anyone else, in fact it would not be a good idea for the creator to share it with anyone if they can simply create infinite wealth for themselves. As stated above if they are indeed trading with the value of assets under management that they claim to do, the market shift would be so substantial that it would be impossible to turn a profit. MTI's current position is that they are offering their service to customers because they want to financially empower their customers to earn money. If true, this would mean that MTI is the first company in the history of the world that can sustainably offer free money to its customers, where there is no actual service or product exchanged between the customer and the business. This would be a miraculous turnaround strategy for the top management of MTI, considering they have proven track records with being involved with scams.

MTI claims that all the Bitcoin deposited by investors is “safely” in cold storage and that the (unregulated) brokers offer credit against this for actual trading.

No broker would be able to offer that service, as they would expose themselves to an unsustainable amount of risk considering the numbers involved.

MTI claims to use several different (unregulated) brokers for trades, for “diversification”.

So-called “live” trading video appears to show a single account with their entire claimed Bitcoin holdings, which would directly contradict the above claim.

Johann Steynberg has claimed in a Q&A video that only a very small amount of the total Bitcoin is actually used for trading (less than 5%) He further commented that the Bitcoin used for trading is leveraged to 200x in order to obtain favorable returns. Not only is this again in contradiction with the above showing a single account, but trading with 200x leverage would also essentially increase the risk and exposure exponentially, making consistent returns impossible.

MTI repeatedly claims that since they work in the “crypto-space”, they are beyond the reach of regulators and as such while they claim to cooperate with bodies such as the FSCA (which the FSCA themselves don't necessarily confirm), they don't believe that they are subject to their authority.

However, whether they accept deposits in fiat currency or bitcoin, the FSCA has made clear that MTI is illegally accepting deposits from investors. Commercial activities involving bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) are subject to the same regulations as other asset classes, including taxation.

MTI initially claimed that their super-bot was trading Forex. On 18 August 2020, the FSCA told them in no uncertain terms that this was illegal as they didn't have the proper license to do so. MTI claimed that they then stopped trading Forex on that day, and that they were tweaking their bot to trade cryptocurrencies instead, to go live on Friday 21 August 2020.

But for the days in-between, MTI still reported daily trading profits in line with what they had previously done, around 1%. And yet even by their own admission, no bot was busy working those days. Clearly, the department responsible for marketing about the bot didn't talk to the department responsible for bragging about profits.

Additionally, since cryptocurrencies and forex are very different markets, it is highly unlikely that the same bot would work in both spaces.

Furthermore, even though none of the management has any experience in development, and that it has been established that this bot was developed by a 3rd party, MTI seems to have the ability in house to tweak the bot in record time to switch from Forex markets to Crypto.

Currently the AI bot claims to only trade Monday to Friday. If the bot did exist, it would not need to conform to business hours. Technically it there would be nothing stopping the bot to run 24/7, 365 days a year, as cryptocurrency markets do not only operate during business hours like traditional stock exchanges.

If this AI bot did exist, and if MTI did trade, which has been proved not to be true MTI would create more wealth than the entire GDP of South Africa in a matter of a few years.

It is important to note that the data from the MTI leaks showed that a substantial amount of Bitcoin is missing and unaccounted for in the Bitcoin pool. This supports the claim that no actual wealth is created via trading as MTI claims, but the proceeds are undoubtedly funded from new members joining, and that MTI's management has looted funds to support their lavish lifestyles.

MTI has thus far claimed that they are unable to produce audited financials because their financial year-end is in September. The company has by law 6 months after its financial year-end to issue annual financial statements.

However, according to the CIPC, MTI's financial year-end is in February, and therefore their financials were due by end of August. At the time of writing, we are not aware that these documents have been produced.

MTI claims to be making profit hand-over-fist. The company ostensibly takes 10% of the day's trading profits which over time works out to millions of rands.

However their CIPC return (filed around 6 months late incidentally) would indicate that the company has a turnover of less than R1 million.

According to their latest video uploaded, the following claims were made³⁾ -

MTI's KYC will not be as rigorous as the FICA requirements which include contact numbers, verified addresses and personal contact information.

South Africa's KYC requirements were specifically implemented inside of the FAIS framework to combat various criminal activities.

KYC will allow MTI to remove “rolling accounts” where money is transferred between duplicate members' accounts.

Any removal of duplicate and false accounts would require half the founding members and and all of the directors and non-executive management team to lose their duplicated accounts.

An audit's only purpose is to show the liquidity of a company.

This is patently false. Audits are conducted internally and externally to review and verify the correctness of information, manage risks, verify best practice to achieve strategic objectives and review financial information.⁴⁾

¹⁾

²⁾
MyBB I believe that this criminal syndicate is smart enough to understand that for the scheme to survive, they must maintain a certain liquidity ratio, similar to a bank. This would enable them to cover any withdrawal requests under average conditions. I believe that this liquidity ratio would be directly proportional to the average withdrawals and inversely proportional to new deposits. In addition to this “withdrawal buffer”, we already know that members receive 10% of new money as bonuses (yes, yes, we know MTI claims this comes from their pockets) and we know that the pro-scammers on the founders list get a fixed percentage (20% if I recall). The rest of the incoming cash, minus the average withdrawals, now needs to be spread across the remaining members as “income”. The bot eats 40% of this profit as a fee, which I’m sure also goes directly into Johann S and the Ward/Grey/Marks clan’s pockets. When you consider that the member pool keeps growing, it is no surprise that the little money that’s left over will be spread thinner and thinner over time. Unless they see a large spike in deposits (and it would have to be big deposits from a small number of new or preferably existing members), the only way to keep the liquidity ratio balanced, would be to reduce the average “profit” paid to members over time.

³⁾
YouTube

⁴⁾
IIASA

mtiissues

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 21:10:39 +0000

MTI WITHDRAWALS EXPERIENCING ISSUES

12.12.2020

As frustrations mount up, withdrawal issues continue.

Leaders and uplines are starting to lose their veneer of cooperation.

11.12.2020

10.12.2020

Without notice, members were receiving error messages regarding OTP emails, and not all emails were received.

After the supposed OTP function had already been running on the system, a notice was sent out to members saying they were testing a new security function that would only be implemented in January.

A badly written, implausible, “factsheet” apparently authored by one his team members, Andrew Lomax, was sent out by one of the leaders, Peter Muller.

09.12.2020

While apparently over 6000 withdrawals were processed, complaints continue to roll in, from account suspensions, withdrawals not paid, to lack of response from support.

08.12.2020

Team leaders are starting to threaten users.

Suspended accounts, worried users, missing accounts, missing transactions and delayed payments while Tech Assist sends out messages apologising for the slow server after the upgrade to the faster server.

07.12.2020

On this Q&A session, more users can be seen complaining about withdrawals. It is also noted that Johan is not in South Africa as the cars drive on the wrong side of the road.

https://youtu.be/7o4ETFOd3i4

In this Telegram group, users were asked to list their usernames for a batch mail to be sent to support querying withdrawal issues.

06.12.2020

05.12.2020

27.11.2020

Withdrawal issues continued, with members querying the need to escalate issues.

Uplines even began to threaten members with removal from groups for reporting issues too early.

26.11.2020

A personal email apparently sent from Johann Steynberg apologising for the issues and offering an increased referral bonus.

25.11.2020

A notice from the MTI team stating that withdrawals delays had been caught up.

23.11.2020

19.11.2020

Problems continued unabated as the week ended off.

There was an official message stating that problems were as a result of changes made to the system, while admitting that problems weren't resolved.

This came coupled with a renewed drive for an increased membership base.

18.11.2020

This week there have been more notifications that issues be will be rectified by the weekend, along with some telling reasons given for the delays and problems.

With more issues cropping up from worried users.

For some users, the office run has continued, halting all trading on their accounts.

This user has even been told that funds would be removed from his account for using a system that Cheri herself has used¹⁾.

Another user, after complaining about MTI, was removed from the Telegram group before he had a chance to see Cheri's reply - which was filled with inaccuracies and lies.

15.11.2020

And new reasons for withdrawal delays continue to be invented.

Also, Bitbuy.ca and altcoin have prohibited accounts from transfering to or from MTI.

There even appears to be problems administering issues - as this user discovered when he was told his issue had been escalated and resolved - before he'd even told them who he was.

13.11.2020

While some are saying their withdrawal issues have been resolved, and blaming everything from the FSCA to journalists, others are still experiencing issues in having their bitcoin show up in their wallets - even though chain analysis has shown their transactions have been finalised.

11.11.2020

Yet another official response to all the issues.

11.11.2020 - more complaints

Official responses have repeatedly stated that the problem has been addressed and resolved. At least five times over the last week.

Although four automated response lines were installed, users have been complaining about lack of support.

And the complaints are coming in from a variety of angles:

There is now also a noted technical glitch with the 2FA that was supposed to resolve the withdrawal issues:

And also the newly-installed automated support system:

1.11.2020

Multiple members have started complaining about deposits and withdrawals not showing up in their accounts.

This user even tracked his deposit and noticed that it was withdrawn before it had even reflected in his trading account.

Other users have been making waves on Telegram and Facebook groups:

¹⁾
MTI Leaks

mtiraid

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 06:47:18 +0000

Mirror Trading International offices raided

It has been confirmed that The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) raided the offices of Mirror Trading International (MTI) in Stellenbosch and Polokwane on the 26th of October 2020. Further raids & seizures were performed at Cheri Ward & Clynton Hugh Marks' mansion in Durban together with the home of CEO, Johann Steynberg

South African Regulator Raids Home of Key Members of an Alleged Crypto Ponzi Scheme

Mirror Trading International offices raided

OFM

Algoa FM

Global Crypto

FSCA Press Release - 28 October 2020

Cheri Ward has made two public announcements regarding the raid, stating that the High Court order is based on lies and the raid is only due to wanting a piece of the pie and that MTI is fully compliant.¹⁾²⁾ Several Telegram updates have also been sent out by members stating similar.³⁾⁴⁾

MTI's official response is brief:

From this Telegram message, it can be seen that they are once again⁵⁾⁶⁾ stating that they are using Ulrich Roux and Associates (URA) for their legal representation.

This would be a clear conflict of interest as can be seen from the statement on this website - MTI Forex Trading. To date, URA have not responded to any requests for clarification regarding these statements.

URA later retracted their support of MTI. Please see MTI News for further information.

¹⁾
Vocaroo

²⁾
Streamable

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⁵⁾

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FaceBook

mydailychoice

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:44:06 +0000

People Involved

Cheri Ward - Director of MDC SA¹⁾

Clynton Marks

Willie Breedt

Andrew Caw - Director of MDC SA²⁾

In the News

My Daily Choice review - BehindMLM

Potential Losses as Stated on the Website

My Daily Choice The average annual income for all Affiliates (active and inactive) during the reporting period was 592.62 USD, and the median annual income for all Affiliates in the reporting period was $0 USD. 74.2% of all Affiliates do not continue with MyDailyChoice after their first year. Out of approximately 84,613 Affiliates that signed up as U.S. Affiliates during the time period, approximately 21,866 were still active at the end of the year.

During the time period, 72,118 of all Affiliates received no income at all. Note that these figures do not represent an Affiliate’s profit, as they do not consider expenses incurred by an Affiliate in operation or promotion of his/her business. The figures above refer to gross income (total income before any expenses are deducted). The expenses an Affiliate incurs in the operation of his or her MyDailyChoice business vary widely. Expenses for Affiliates can be several hundred or thousand dollars annually. You should factor in estimated expenses when projecting potential profits. Such operating expenses could include advertising and promotional expenses, product samples, training, travel, telephone and Internet costs, business equipment, and miscellaneous expenses. Based on a survey conducted by the company in 2018, the average annual expenses an Affiliate incurred were 1,608 USD.

Wife of founder, Josh Zwagil, Jenna Zwagil, has taken over Cheri Ward's moniker - Dubalion.

¹⁾ , ²⁾

myfinancialadvantage

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:42:51 +0000

A group geared towards promoting MTI.

Members

Craig van Aswegen - MFA

Hannes Potgieter - MFA

Blerim Shabani - MFA

Natasha le Roux - MFA and MFA

Lucas Wolmarans - MFA

Eddie Brown¹⁾

¹⁾

mywealth

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:56:36 +0000

MyWealth / My Wealth Method

Initial Entry

Charl Coetzee

Rich Simmonds

natashaleroux

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 17:47:51 +0000

MTI VP.

My Financial Advantage

ngqabutho_don_nkomo

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 09:03:18 +0000

Ngqabutho Don Nkomo

Previous Schemes

MTI¹⁾

My Daily Choice - Teamonfire KZN²⁾

CWE Crypto World Evolution³⁾⁴⁾

Bio

Don Nkomo, a Zimbabwean national is the director of the shelf company Uprobuz (Pty) Ltd. This company owns Cheri Ward and Clynton Hugh Marks mansion home, based in Monteith Estate, Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

It is believed that Don is a close friend and/or business partner of Cheri Ward.

His LinkedIn profile still shows him operating from the 341 Beyers Naude Drive address⁵⁾.

Other Links

Personal Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nkomo.don

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

omc

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 06:17:45 +0000

A networking club started by Schalk van der Merwe which promotes scams¹⁾ under the guise of business opportunities.

Companies Involved In

Crowd1²⁾³⁾

¹⁾
Facebook

²⁾
Crowd1 OMC

³⁾

onlinebusinesscoach

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 17:04:21 +0000

Online Business Coach

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

onyxlifestyle

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 18:22:36 +0000

Onyx Lifestyle Review: LQD8 Block investment BTC securities fraud - BehindMLM

Onyx Lifestyle website - http://wow.onyxlifestyle.com/

passiveexpert

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 17:11:27 +0000

Advertising bought with BTC - Ponzi

Passive Expert Review: Ad Pack bitcoin Ponzi scheme - BehindMLM

peopleinvolved

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 06:43:35 +0000

Main MTI information page

Staff/Management

Cheri Ward / Marks / Gray¹⁾

Johann Steynberg

Clynton Marks²⁾

Joel Santiago

Leonard Gray

Rich Simmonds³⁾

Liz Malton⁴⁾

Brett Maaske⁵⁾

Scott Smith⁶⁾

Vince Ward⁷⁾

Belinda van Zyl⁸⁾

Charlene Chiang⁹⁾

Charlie Ward¹⁰⁾

Cor Venter¹¹⁾

Jayshree Govender¹²⁾

Monica Coetzee¹³⁾

Pearl Meth-Shezi¹⁴⁾

Tania van Zyl¹⁵⁾

Tshidi Ramanamane¹⁶⁾

Romano Samuel

At a Shareholders Meeting, Johann Steynberg handed over a certificate of shares to Clynton Marks¹⁷⁾ From the MTI Members Portal - https://www.mtimembers.com/¹⁸⁾.

Over the course of 2020 Mirror Trading International has seen incredible and exponential growth and a need arose to take the company, its structures and management to the “Next Level”.

To this end structures have been put in place for MTI to be managed in the manner fit for a company of its size and operations.

Shareholders’ agreements have been solidified, a board has been appointed in accordance with the Companies Act and a management team interviewed and then appointed based on key skills required to take MTI to new heights.

All management members were then invited to attend a Strategic Conference in Johannesburg where the dream and vision for MTI was explained and reiterated by our CEO, Mr. Johann Steynberg. Through high level facilitation by an expert advisor to MTI, a management organogram was developed, and a strategic alignment process set in place.

The result was a highly skilled, passionate and equipped team that will take MTI into the future as an iconic heritage brand that cares about every member and the little man on the street.¹⁹⁾

Board of Directors

Johann Steynberg

Clynton Hugh Marks

Charles "Charlie" Ward (NonExec)

Monica Coetzee (NonExec)

Management

Johann Steynberg - Head of Technical and Research and Development Department

Clynton Hugh Marks - Head of Referral Program and Members

Charles "Charlie" Ward - Head of Strategy Implementation

Monica Coetzee - Head of Corporate Services

Romano Samuel - Head of Member Support

Cheri Ward - Head of Communications and Marketing

Vincent "Vince" Ward - Head of International Expansion

Leonard Wesley Gray - Head of Legal Department

Legalese Regarding Directors - Formal and Informal

CIPC Publication - take note of Marker 7 - guidance_note_2_of_2020_11_08_2020_signed_1_.pdf

COMPANIES AND DEALING WITH DIRECTORS NOT RECORDED WITH CIPC - companies-and-directors-not-recorded-with-cipc.pdf

Suspicious Investors

Willie Breedt

The Bell Brothers

Known Promoters

The following people are known to have promoted or profited significantly from the MTI Ponzi Scam

Leth Aguilar

Sean Logan

CryptoAnalyzer - Gary Jeremiah Handley

Colin Daly - Crypto Stacks 369

Gerrit Denham

Leonard/Nicci Gray

Henrico Hanekom

Chris Hattingh

Stephan Hattingh aka Bitcoin Chaser

Gerard Kavonic

Katherine Korytkowski

Peter Muller

Bernard Swanevelder

Johan van Wyk

Eric Venter

Marinus Bell

Ignatius Bell

Usher Bell

Lizaan Sheppard

André Jacques Erasmus

JP Erasmus

Shaun Grundlingh

Gerald Lassen

Hannes Potgieter

Natasha le Roux

Stefan Olds

Henry Kemp

Vaughn Gonzalvers

Jacques Smit

John Loots

Anthony Chis

Royal Kwaku

Joseph and Claire van Eeden

Gideon Stols

Russell Jacob

Sipho Ndaba / Cryptoking

Je'zelle Kruger

Brandon Lizamore aka Neil1MTI

Jacques Sassin

Jeanine Stocker

Denver Smit

Sharon Cousins

Johan Kruger

Johannes Christian Kriel

Chantel van Breda

Marius de la Rey

Raymond Khan

Craig van Aswegen

Blerim Shabani

Lucas Wolmarans

Eddie Brown

Sondag Haluka

Werner Hattingh

Peter Lewis

Louis Mulder

Brett Pretorius

Brandon Mac Donald

Tom Fraser

Conray Labuschagne

Ewoudt Labuschagne

Daniel Scholtz

Helmut Meijer

Adrian Pilling

—-

Founders Club

The Founders Club are classified as initial investors who “believed in the dream” and as such receive bonuses that are not available to any other members and are apart from team and trading bonuses. It is said that these bonuses are calculated from a separate pool of investments that the founders deposited.²⁰⁾ But as will be seen, the founders haven't deposited enough to qualify for these returns.

Willie Breedt has never put a cent into MTI - yet his founders' bonus was sitting at 1.7146161284965749 BTC at 24 September 2020.

In this account- with no deposits - he had also earned 2.4183783807424 BTC as Return on Investment (ROI) - leading to further speculation that some “investors” earn higher trading percentages.

His wife, Anche Breedt, deposited a total of 0.9548BTC, and earned 1.4691593008995 BTC from the founder's pool as well as 2.1057318239218 BTC from ROI.

Pieter Marais has 9 accounts - of which 6 are in the Founders Club - and had deposited a total of 3.105595023 BTC and received a total of 40.91185198 BTC from the Founder's pool.

Of that, two of his accounts had no deposits and still earned a total of 8.760602465 BTC.

The total founders pool earnings was sitting at 468.59842499837237 BTC, over and above their trading income of 533.392449163612 BTC. This fact alone shows that the founders pool deposits were not put into a separate trading account.

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

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⁶⁾

⁷⁾

⁸⁾

⁹⁾

¹⁰⁾

¹¹⁾

¹²⁾

¹³⁾

¹⁴⁾

¹⁵⁾

¹⁶⁾

¹⁷⁾
story.php

¹⁸⁾

¹⁹⁾
The original MyBB post
The Twitter link
The Facebook post

²⁰⁾
Cheri at 8:52 - Youtube

petermuller

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 12:36:40 +0000

Peter Muller

DOB: 09/04/1964

Companies Promoted

MTI⁶⁾⁷⁾

⁶⁾

⁷⁾

petronpay

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:57:09 +0000

Ponzi scheme selling pretend investments on the price of oil.

PetronPay Review: 300% ROI “oil barrels” Ponzi scheme - BehindMLM

swiss warning of unregulated company - FINMA

pgi

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 04:47:32 +0000

PGI Global

Background

Official name Praetorian Group International

Website http://www.pgiglobal.trade

Launched April 2020

Type of Scheme Investment Ponzi MLM

Type of Exit Website Offline

Info

Established by RV Palafox around June 2020. PGI Global claims to be an Investment Scheme funded by Crypto ATMs and AI Trading. Based on promised returns it's an obvious Ponzi scheme. Officially collapsed as of 28 June 2021 with it's website being pulled and DNS resolution errors being displayed when attempting to visit the website.

People Involved

Mielli Motsepe

Other Links

PGI Global Review: 200% ROI Ponzi positions - BehindMLM

PGI Global collapses, initiates exit-scam through… Nui’s Kala - BehindMLM

protravelplus

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 13:54:50 +0000

Known participants:

Cheri Ward¹⁾

Clynton Hugh Marks²⁾

Joel Santiago³⁾

¹⁾ , ²⁾ , ³⁾

qubittech

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 12:06:40 +0000

Fake crypto trading Ponzi.

QubitTech Review: 250% ROI crypto trading Ponzi scheme - BehindMLM

qz_asset_management

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 08:18:48 +0000

QZ Asset Management: BDAI Trading Ponzi Scheme

Official name QZ Asset Management

Website https://qzinvest.com/

Launched Late in 2022

Founder Blake Yeung Pu Lei

Introduction

QZ Asset Management, formerly known as Qianze Asset Management, claimed to operate in the financial investment MLM niche. This document explores the company's history, leadership, compensation plan, and the critical concerns raised about its legitimacy.

Company Overview

Name: QZ Asset Management

Alias: QZ Invest

Location: Guangzhou, China

Founder: Blake Yeung Pu Lei

Blake Yeung Pu Lei, the purported head of QZ Asset Management, lacks a verifiable digital footprint, possibly due to language barriers. Marketing videos circulating online reveal Yeung speaking with a typical Hong Kong “British” English accent.

History and Rebranding

QZ Asset Management, previously Qianze Asset Management, reportedly rebranded around 2021. The company falsely claims a decade of existence despite emerging no earlier than 2019.

Leadership Team

QZ Asset Management's website lists key executives:

1. **Blake Yeung Pu Lei** - Alleged head of the company 2. **Roger Sim** - Regional Director 3. **Panjal Chandra** - Director of Systems Development 4. **Julian D. Meyers** - Director of Credit Risk Management 5. **Andrei Petrov** - Director of System Security 6. **Cui Tong Fei** - Founding Partner, Chairman, and Director 7. **Voong Kuang Jie** - Founding Partner, Chief HR Officer, and Director

Verification of the existence of these individuals is challenging.

Recent Developments

As of March 24, 2023, QZ Asset Management, through QZ Global Limited, a newly incorporated South Dakota shell company, expressed its intention to sell shares to the SEC. However, this filing lacks disclosure of the BDAI token MLM investment scheme and audited financial reports.

Business Model and Compensation Plan

Products

QZ Asset Management lacks retailable products or services. Affiliates primarily market the company's affiliate membership.

Compensation Plan

QZ Basic: Invest $100 to $900 and receive 1.75% per week.

QZ Elite: Invest $1000 or more and receive 3.5% per week.

Returns are capped at 400%, requiring reinvestment. Withdrawals within the first 91 days incur escalating fees.

Affiliate Ranks

QZ Asset Management has five affiliate ranks with specific qualification criteria:

1. Rank 1 - $3000 in accumulated residual commissions 2. Vice President - $6000 in accumulated residual commissions 3. Senior Vice President - $20,000 in accumulated residual commissions 4. Executive Vice President - $50,000 in accumulated residual commissions 5. Director - $150,000 in accumulated residual commissions

Referral and Residual Commissions

Affiliates receive 10% of funds invested by personally recruited affiliates. Residual commissions follow a binary structure, paying 10% on the weaker binary team side.

Rank Achievement Bonuses

Achieving higher ranks results in one-time bonuses, including investment positions, electronics, and luxury items.

Concerns and Critiques

QZ Asset Management faces several red flags:

False Claims: The company falsely asserts a decade of existence despite evidence pointing to a more recent establishment.

Securities Fraud: Alleged registration with the Asset Management Association of China is misleading, as MLM companies require CSRC registration, which QZ Asset Management lacks.

Ponzi Scheme Warning: The unsustainable nature of promised returns, coupled with the absence of legitimate financial reports, raises concerns about the company's authenticity.

Exit-Scam and Closure

Update: May 25, 2023 - QZ Asset Management Exit-Scam Complete, Website Offline

As of a few hours ago, QZ Asset Management's website has been pulled offline, signaling the culmination of the Ponzi scheme's “SEC audit” exit-scam. The company's social media profiles, including Facebook and YouTube, have also been deleted.

Launched in late 2022, QZ Asset Management was identified as a 400% ROI MLM crypto Ponzi scheme, believed to be operated by Chinese scammers concealing their identities in Hong Kong. The scheme primarily targeted investors in Africa.

Exit-Scam Timeline

Late March: QZ Asset Management initiated its exit-scam with the announcement of a fictitious NASDAQ listing.

May 1st: Withdrawals were disabled, with CEO Blake Yeung Pu Lei claiming it was part of a scheduled SEC audit. Notably, the SEC does not audit private companies.

May 25th: The company took down its website and erased its presence on Facebook and YouTube. The Twitter profile, though still up, has been abandoned since February.

Deceptive Tactics

Despite QZ Asset Management attempting to create distance from their African victims by spreading misinformation about a NASDAQ listing, the scheme has come to an end.

Regulatory Landscape

Regulatory action against QZ Asset Management from China appears unlikely. Given the involvement of cryptocurrency and its transfer to offshore entities, African authorities face significant challenges in pursuing legal action.

On 1 June 2023, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa issued a warning against FSCA warns the public against QZ Asset Management Customer Service Consultants (Pty) Ltd.¹⁾

Source: [BehindMLM](https://behindmlm.com/companies/qz-asset-management-exit-scam-complete-website-offline/)

As of now, total victim numbers and the extent of financial losses incurred by those involved with QZ Asset Management remain unknown. Further updates, though unlikely, could provide more insight into the aftermath of this exit-scam.

Source: [BehindMLM](https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/qz-asset-management-review-bdai-trading-ponzi-scheme/)

¹⁾
FSCA warns the public against QZ Asset Management Customer Service Consultants (Pty) Ltd | https://www.fsca.co.za/News%20Documents/FSCA%20Press%20Release%20%20Public%20warning%20against%20QZ%20Asset%20Management%201%20June%202023.pdf

rag

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 10:59:07 +0000

Recovery Action Group (RAG)

Recovery Action Group (RAG) is a group of concerned members who are supposedly helping those affected by MTI and Finalmente's collapse.

They have started asking their members for donations to assist their assistance - https://getaquid.com/donate-and-support/⁴²⁾.

This group has highly suspicious individuals at the top and should not be trusted to have anyone's best interest.

It is also using a registered address that has been previously linked to fraudulent organisations⁴³⁾.

Getaquid comes into being from the following organisations all owned by Chris Kriel:

CarCaptain⁴⁴⁾

SEO Optimizer⁴⁵⁾ - owned the Rag domain⁴⁶⁾

Digital Marketing Wizard developed the RAG site⁴⁷⁾

Global Village Workers⁴⁸⁾ - the main sponsor and support for RAG⁴⁹⁾

Organisers

Johannes Christian Kriel

Sharon Cousins

Johan Kruger

⁴²⁾

⁴³⁾
Companies Made Simple and Gov.uk

⁴⁴⁾

⁴⁵⁾

⁴⁶⁾

⁴⁷⁾

⁴⁸⁾

⁴⁹⁾

raymondkhan

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:42:42 +0000

Member of MTI¹⁾ and VP of several other schemes, including:

D.A.I.S.Y²⁾

CashFX Global Partners/ AGI³⁾

Forsage⁴⁾

Facebook

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

raynier_matthys

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:51:59 +0000

Raynier Matthys

Bio

Raynier Matthys⁵⁰⁾ aka Cryptoray⁵¹⁾⁵²⁾ aka Bearded Trader⁵³⁾⁵⁴⁾⁵⁵⁾⁵⁶⁾. Worked for Finalmente and also an avid supporter of a vast array of MLMs. Lists himself as a Bitcoin Educator⁵⁷⁾ available for One-on-One⁵⁸⁾ sessions

Previous Schemes

Finalmente⁵⁹⁾⁶⁰⁾

AddaBit⁶¹⁾

Leo⁶²⁾

Bittrain⁶³⁾

Novus⁶⁴⁾

Mirrox Crypto Ltd⁶⁵⁾

Elamant⁶⁶⁾

AI Vizion⁶⁷⁾⁶⁸⁾

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⁵¹⁾

⁵²⁾ , ⁵⁸⁾

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⁵⁷⁾

⁵⁹⁾

⁶⁰⁾

⁶¹⁾

⁶²⁾

⁶³⁾

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⁶⁸⁾

redox

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 08 May 2021 08:10:12 +0000

Redox Trades LLC

Redox Trades LLC is described as a Investment,Trading,Arbitrage and Property Investment company offering 7.5 to 21.5% weekly ROI.

Background

Official name Redox Trades LLC

Website https://www.redoxtradesllc.com/

Launched Unknown

Type of Scheme Investment Ponzi

Type of Exit Slowed Payouts

Exit-excuse Double Payments

Info

Known Promotors

Daniel Scholtz¹⁾

Other Links

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/redoxtradesllc.com https://www.hellopeter.com/redox-trades-llc

¹⁾

registration

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2024 05:19:54 +0000

Registration

Editor applications are open

To become an editor you need to send an email to hjul.paul@gmail.com which must include the following information:

An explanation of why you want to join.

That you agree to abide by the editors Code of Conduct

richsimmonds

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:56:56 +0000

Rich Simmonds

Bio

Rich Simmonds,married to Marina Caenazzo,brother of Michael Peter Simmonds,uncle of Nicole Carvalho(previously Simmonds),is a long-time promoter of the latest and greatest schemes that promise passive income with limited effort and minimal risk. His advice that he peddles for investments goes against the long-established norms and investing best practice in terms of his views on risk and diversification (he is against diversification). Rich Simmonds is a South African national, however, relocated to Domodossola, Italy, on 29th November 2019 which is available to see on his public Instagram page.

Per his website he describes himself in the 3rd person by opening with “Disruptive Influencer, Rich Simmonds, Author, Disruptor and Challenger of the Status Quo. Consistently recognized as one of the Top20 Digital Marketing Influencers in the world. Rich is a dynamic facilitator capable of asking the different and disruptive questions that will challenge conventional thinking”. It is unclear which organization recognized him as such. He has since changed his website, but the web archive is available⁶⁹⁾. A Facebook page called BillionaireBossGlobal had a post linking to a known phone number of Rich,indicating he's either the creator or an admin likely of the page. This page name has changed a few times from its original name of Freedom Global,to ZARFund and eventually the name it now has

Relation to MTI

He appeared to have insider knowledge regarding the launch of MTI, as he was making posts on his Facebook⁷⁰⁾⁷¹⁾⁷²⁾⁷³⁾ page promoting the opportunity before the company was incorporated on 30 April 2019. At time spoke of 1.5% daily profits and the company being FICA-compliant. Both claims would turn out to be unsubstantiated and unsustainable. He is also listed as a Trainer & Presenter for MTI⁷⁴⁾

He appears to push MTI so hard to his followers due to his massive returns that he receives through the scheme. Per MTI leaks he had (at the time of the leak) deposited R14,634.27 on 14 August 2019 (near the beginning of the MTI saga). Since then he has managed to withdraw R5,426,239.98 (based on Bitcoin Value at the time) which is a truly miraculous return in such a short period of time. Most of his returns appear to come from his so-called “binary income”. He also has 55 downlines (people under him in the pyramid) including at least 1 duplicate account for himself,cobalt,that was also used as a referral link for others on his website⁷⁵⁾,his Wife Marina Caenazzo also appears with a substantial Binary and withdrawal total. It is likely that this substantial binary income from MTI is sustaining his lifestyle in Italy as they both claim to have retired thanks to MTI

Since the collapse of MTI Rich has removed all trace of MTI from his Youtube Channel,and made his MTI Team Ubuntu Bulls Facebook page private

Previous Schemes

MTI⁷⁶⁾

Bet 635 Sport⁷⁷⁾

ZARFund

Freedom Global

MyWealth

Other Links

RichSimmondsZA Youtube

Ubuntu Bulls of MTI Facebook

EQUINElibrium

⁶⁹⁾

⁷⁰⁾

⁷¹⁾

⁷²⁾

⁷³⁾

⁷⁴⁾

⁷⁵⁾

⁷⁶⁾

⁷⁷⁾

romanosamuel

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:21:05 +0000

Romano Samuel

Romano is currently the Head of Member Support at Mirror Trading International as per the MTI Strategic conference of 2020

royalkwaku

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 15:48:40 +0000

MTI promoter from Ghana.

In the Media

Royal Bit Earner - Facebook¹⁾

¹⁾

russelcjerrard

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 12:54:41 +0000

Russel C Jerrard

Not to be confused with Russell Jacob

Russel C Jerrard is a vocal promoter and expert recruiter of various present and past crypto Ponzi schemes.

Companies Involved In

* MTI¹⁾ * BTC Global²⁾

—-

In the Media & Links

BTC Global Scam - Facebook

Russell Facebook

YouTube

¹⁾

²⁾

russelljacob

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 18:42:06 +0000

Russell Jacob

Russel Jacobs was an MTI presenter. Although he made his channel videos private¹⁾, a simple Google search shows how many times his presentation was referenced²⁾. His Twitter feed shows that he previously also invested and promoted Karatbars³⁾. From his YouTube channel, it can be seen he also promotes Finalmente, Mind Capital, and Lifestyle Galaxy⁴⁾.

Through the recent MTI hacks it was uncovered that Russell (via his MTI account “CryptoRuss”) had 46 downlines at the time, and withdrew approximately 4.58 BTC, while only depositing 0.03 BTC. In this phone conversation (ZIP file), Russell can be heard saying he hasn't withdrawn any of his BTC from MTI.

This means the bulk of Russell's income was made from referrals and bonuses from his downline as he he only put in a small amount of his own funds.

Although it has been proven that the leaders of MTI withdrew millions and benefitted unduly from the scheme before the dramatic collapse, Russell was seen to complain about MTI management taking alledged abuse on social media, including himself.

After the collapse of BTC Global, Russell continued to call people ignorant that believed so and insisted that “BTC Global has gone nowhere and is still up and running”. Due to this delusional behavior shown, it is recommended that extreme caution is taken before taking advice from Russell for any business opportunities.

His company, Rus Solutions (Pty) Ltd is in the process of deregistration as he has never submitted an annual return since establishment in 2010. ⁵⁾.

The MTI data leak shows the following amounts were deposited and withdrawn by Russell.

¹⁾
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP-cTg2P32w

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

scottsmith

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 03:51:41 +0000

Companies Involved In

MTI¹⁾

Vaultage Solutions

Thrive²⁾

7k Metals³⁾

¹⁾
Busy trying to avoid responsibility for being involved in and recruiting others into a scam, Scott Smith has denounced MTI on Telegram -

²⁾
YouTube

³⁾

seanlogan

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 03:50:09 +0000

A vocal promoter of MTI who is a founder (PDF file) and the sponsor of CryptoAnalyzer. Currently trying to prove he is also a victim of the scam -

. Currently part of 7k Metals¹⁾.

¹⁾

sharoncousins

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:56:47 +0000

Sharon Cousins

Self confessed recruiter in MTI.

On the Panel of controversial group RAG (suspected of trying to manipulate liquidation process of MTI).

Direct downline to Cheri Marks⁷⁸⁾.

Director of World Venture⁷⁹⁾.

https://streamable.com/yqcwe7

⁷⁸⁾

⁷⁹⁾

shaungrunlingh

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 13:22:43 +0000

Shaun Grundlingh

Bio

Serial Ponzi/Pyramid promoter. A VP who comes with Cheri from BTC Global days. As the MTI network crumbled, he was vocal about not complaining¹⁾. Admin for one of the biggest Cash FX Group Telegram groups in South Africa.

Known Schemes

BTC Global²⁾

MTI

Cash FX Group

Santiago Academy

Silgonex

Hyperfund

¹⁾

²⁾

silgonex

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 06:36:54 +0000

Silgonex

Silgonex is described as a physical and digital wealth management system backed by real silver.

News

Tuesday, 03 August 2021 Case No.: 35728/21 - Final Liquidation of Silgo International (Pty) Ltd t/a CryptoSA (Pty) Ltd t/a Silgonex A final liquidation order has been granted in the above matter. We have decided to support Mr V Victor to be the liquidator herein, as Mr Victor has the necessary knowledge and experience dealing with these matters. We reqeust all investors/ creditors and staff to complete the attached Requisition Form with the applicable supporting documents. Please return these documents to Alta Fourie at Vezi – De Beer Attorneys on the email address: alta @ vezidebeer . co . za. If we can please request your urgency in this regard, as it will assist the Master of the High Court in appointing a liquidator. Once the liquidator has been appointed, the contact details will be shared. We thank you for your patience in this regard.

Background

Official name Silgonex

Website https://silgonex.com/

Launched ~April 2020

Type of Scheme Asset-backed Crypto Ponzi

Type of Exit Payments stopped

Info

Started by Robert Maxwell(of Freedom Global (CEO) and Marius du Plessis (Chief Operating Officer). Silgonex seems to be a localized clone of Karatbars.

People Involved

Robert Maxwell - CEO

Marius du Plessis - COO

Tertius du Plessis - CFO

Shaun Grundlingh

Kevin Meiring

Other Links

Silgonex Website https://silgonex.com/

Silgonex Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Silgonex/

Robert Maxwell Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Robert-Maxwell-274578106727235/

Marius du Plessis Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marius.plessis.3

Marius du Plessis Crypto and Gold Expert https://www.facebook.com/Marius-du-Plessis-Exclusive-Crypto-and-Gold-Expert-107130004046112/

siphondaba

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:12:51 +0000

A vocal promoter with two companies promoting MTI and Hyperfund.

Zurfin

Falconvision

Zurfin ownership -

Linked to Sarasson Trust -

Linked to MTI -

Linked to Falconvision -

Linked to Hyperfund - https://zurfin.com/getting-started-with-hyper-capital/ -

Linked to Lionheart Trust -

sondaghaluka

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 18:19:05 +0000

MTI VP in Namibia¹⁾. Also promotes Onyx Lifestyle.

Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/TheRealSondagHaluka/²⁾

¹⁾

²⁾

start

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 03:25:22 +0000

Dishonest.wiki is an OSINT wiki focused on tracking complex Ponzi, MLM, and crypto schemes and exposing the individuals operating them.

The grifters behind these schemes exploit victims without guilt nor shame. They often front, own, or sponsor charities and worthy causes as an extra layer to hide behind.

They are organised career criminals that will prey on the financially illiterate and steal pensions from the elderly. They will take all of your life savings and they will convince you to take a second bond on your home. They are highly convincing and manipulative and they will steal every last cent you have without remorse.

Don't feel sorry for them, be cautious and be careful, and always perform your own due diligence.

Remember, you are dealing with dangerous organised criminals, if it sounds too good to be true, it normally is.

Companies

Companies either known to be MLM/Ponzi/Pyramid schemes,or likely are based on available information

Mirror Trading International (Latest MTI News)

BTC Global

My Daily Choice

Syntek

MMM

Copy Profit Success Global

Bitcoin Mine

Online Business Coach

Get Super Rich

Kipi SA a.k.a My Deposit 241 / 247

Vaultage Solutions

Cash FX

Crowd1

Elamant

Volishon

Bitcaw

Bitclub Network

Ker-Ching

Crypto Gold

Karatbars

GSPartners

Freebay

KBC

KCB

V999

G999

Finiko

Mining City

Finalmente Global

Finalmente Main

Globecoin(FCOIN/FinalmenteCoin)

Cryptodash

Finfine Digital Hedge Fund

Thrive International

Titan Crypto Club

Breck Integrated Investment

Cryptraders

Torque Trading Systems (also known as Torque Bot)

Dragon Mine

Lifestyle Galaxy

Carrera Corporation Ltd

Hypertech / HyperCash / Hyperfund / HyperCapital / Collinstar

Continental Miners

CBI / Uhuru

D.A.I.S.Y

iQuandex

PGI

PetronPay

QubitTech

Veribull - Auvoria Prime

Mind Capital

Passive Expert

Steven Twain is Back

Anitree Financial

Aintree Financial Ltd

Pro Travel Plus

Forsage / Fortron / XGold

Meishi Affiliate Program - FinelineVcard

Silgonex

Silverchiefs

Onyx Lifestyle

Club BTC International

World Venture

7k Metals

Blocktrading/Blocktrading.co.za

MyWealth/My Wealth Method

Beurax

Wiseling

Africrypt

Tariomix

Redox Trades LLC

for3x breakout kings

QZ Asset Management

People

Cheri Ward / Marks / Gray

Johann Steynberg

Clynton Hugh Marks

Joel Santiago

Leonard Wesley Gray

Rich Simmonds

Liz Malton

Andrew Caw

Steven Twain

Russel C Jerrard

Madelyn Roose - deceased

Willie Breedt

Johan van Wyk - deceased

Elaine Chetty

Brett Maaske

Scott Smith

Vince Ward

Belinda van Zyl

Charlene Chiang

Charles "Charlie" Ward

Cor Venter

Jayshree Govender

Monica Coetzee

Pearl Meth-Shezi

Tania van Zyl

Tshidi Ramanamane

Kobus van der Merwe

Esmari du Plessis

Susan Barnard

Tiaan van der Westhuizen

Ngqabutho Don Nkomo

Romano Samuel

Masilo Mokone a.k.a Mr Smile

Raees Cajee

Ameer Cajee

Louis Liebenberg

Commonly Used Locations

341 Beyers Naude Drive, Johannesburg, is an address in South Africa that many ponzi schemes and dodgy businesses has used as their HQ.

Vocal Promoters

Persons who are known to promote or profit significantly from ponzi and pyramid schemes - usually by having a significantly sized downline (referrals)

Tony de Gouveia

Andrew Eaton

Tom Fraser

Brendon Earp-Jones

Bruce Hughes

Leth Aguilar

Sean Logan

CryptoAnalyzer - Gary Jeremiah Handley

Colin Daly - Crypto Stacks 369

Gerrit Denham

LM Gray

Henrico Hanekom

Chris Hattingh

Gerard Kavonic

Katherine Korytkowski

Peter Muller

Bernard Swanevelder

Johan van Wyk

Eric Venter

Marinus Bell

Ignatius Bell

Usher Bell

Lizaan Sheppard

André Jacques Erasmus

JP Erasmus

Shaun Grundlingh

Gerald Lassen

Hannes Potgieter

Natasha le Roux

Stefan Olds

Henry Kemp

Vaughn Gonzalvers

Jacques Smit

John Loots

Anthony Chis

Royal Kwaku

Joseph and Claire van Eeden

Gideon Stols

Russell Jacob

Sipho Ndaba / Cryptoking

Je'zelle Kruger

Brandon Lizamore aka Neil1MTI

Jacques Sassin

Jeanine Stocker

Denver Smit

Sharon Cousins

Johan Kruger

Johannes Christian Kriel

Chantel van Breda

Marius de la Rey

Raymond Khan

Craig van Aswegen

Blerim Shabani

Lucas Wolmarans

Eddie Brown

Sondag Haluka

Werner Hattingh

Peter Lewis

Louis Mulder

Brett Pretorius

Johan Lambton

Viljoen

Brandon Mac Donald

Vick Strizheus

David Venter

Conray Labuschagne

Ewoudt Labuschagne

Daniel Scholtz

Helmut Meijer

Adrian Pilling

Elana Barnard (Lana)

Influencers' Companies & Networking Teams

Promoters are the true driving force behind the success of many of these scams. The same group of people will reach out to their network, promising them high returns for minimal effort. In an effort to highlight this second tier of scammers, here their teams and companies will be listed.

AI Vizion

Online Millionaires Club

Denham Capital

My Financial Advantage

Zurfin

Falconvision

RAG - Recovery Action Group - Getaquid

Work Your Wealth

CKM Wealth Creators

Relevant Laws

Prevention of Organised Crime Act

Consumer Protection Act

Companies Act

Banks Act

FICA

FAIS Act

National Credit Act

Income Tax Act

Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa

Legal Recourse

FAIS Ombud finds advice offered by respondents to be fraudulent, enticing and indicative of a pyramid - Masthead

You will soon be able to claim more in the Small Claims court - Business Insider

Investor claims victory in alleged Ponzi scam - IOL

Ponzi schemes- Who to sue - Marais Muller Hendricks

If you have information, or have been affected by schemes which you suspect are fraudulent investments such as those described on this wiki, the FSCA can be contacted here.

Pyramids in History

OneCoin - Deep Dive

Government Gazette - Investigations into Pyramid Schemes - 1999

Investigations into Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes including the effectiveness of current legislation

Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme Red Flag Guidance

Ponzi or pyramid schemes often have the same characteristics, usually with some very clear and obvious red flags that potential investors should assess before investing.

Crypto: The hype, the profits, the fundemental challenge - MoneyWeb

How to identify a Ponzi Scheme - MoneyWeb

Investor Alert - US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The Key Elements of a Ponzi Scheme - CPA Insider

Business101: Tips to help entrepreneurs spot a scam - IOL

When Scam Artists Get Caught

People trusted you and you stole from them, magistrate tells fraudster sentenced to 35 years - IOL

Willie Breedt declared bankrupt as investors head to High Court News24

Other Noteworthy Schemes

Steinhoff Fraud Incident - Special report: Steinhoff’s red flags

Fyre Festival - Fyre Festival: Inside the world's biggest festival flop

Enron - Enron Scandal: The Fall of a Wall Street Darling

Threats We've Received

29 June 2022, from Otto Krause Attorneys on behalf of G999

https://dishonest.wiki/pdf/letter_1.pdf

4 August 2022, from Otto Krause Attorneys on behalf of G999

https://dishonest.wiki/pdf/letter_2.pdf

2 May 2024, from Tony de Gouveia

https://dishonest.wiki/pdf/dmca_request_1.pdf

Proudly hosted by https://mzunguhosting.ml/

stefanolds

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 17:51:50 +0000

Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/stefan.olds¹⁾ Website- http://ownfuturegold.com/

Companies and Teams Involved In

MTI²⁾

Legacy Wealth Group³⁾

Karatbars⁴⁾

Liberland⁵⁾

The Bitcoin Babes & Boyz⁶⁾

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾
https://m.facebook.com/legacywealthgroupsa

⁴⁾
https://m.facebook.com/karatbarsinternationalofficial/

⁵⁾
https://m.facebook.com/liberland/

⁶⁾
https://m.facebook.com/thebitcoinbabes/

stephanhattingh

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 19:54:01 +0000

Stephan Hattingh aka Bitcoin Chaser promotes various schemes on his Facebook page. ¹⁾

He also has a personal website - http://bitcoinchaser.co.za/. ²⁾

Companies Involved In

MTI

Finiko

D.A.I.S.Y

iQuandex

¹⁾

²⁾

steventwain

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 16:52:21 +0000

Steven Twain

Steven Twain was the alleged mastermind and architect running the BTC Global scam which saw investors lose more than USD$80m. The BTC Global claimed that trades are backed by Steven, a master trader, that he has 6 years experience trading binary options with consistent success.

His infamous picture where he is posing in a white suit jacket sipping a milkshake has been debated and analyzed on many public forums. Not much is known about Steven, according to top BTC Global recruit Cheri Ward, Steven lead a very private life and he is very shy.

During the time the BTC Global scam was running, no other person ever saw Steven face to face, he never appeared in any videos or marketing material, and he never had any telephonic conversations with anyone. The only evidence of his entire existence is via BTC Global newsletter emails and screenshots of WhatsApp chats he had with other BTC Global recruits.

It is believed that Steven is either a master scam artist that managed to steal millions from unsuspecting investors, or he is a fictional character made up.

Steven had an elaborate exit strategy from BTC Global. When payments suddenly stopped, Cheri Marks informed members that Steven's spouse had given birth to twins. This story was later changed when Cheri informed members that Steven was brutally attacked in his home and his trading equipment was stolen.

Early Life & Post BTC Global

Steven Twain has no public record, known associates (that can confirm his existence) or social media accounts before BTC Global. Once the scam went bust, Steven seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Conspiracy theories abound - such as this screenshot of a FaceBook account -

References

1. https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/bitcoin-trader-says-supershy-founder-has-stolen-its-money-20180525

susan_barnard

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:28:53 +0000

Linked to globecoin,finalmente

syntek

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 04:13:51 +0000

People Involved

Johann Steynberg

Cheri Ward

Clynton Marks

In the News

The Syntek Global review - Behind MLM

tariomix

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 May 2021 15:42:44 +0000

Tariomix

Tariomix is described as a precious-stones and metals investment company.

Background

Official name Tariomix

Website https://www.tariomix.co.za/

Launched Unknown

Type of Scheme Investment Ponzi

Type of Exit Stopped Payouts

Info

Other Links

tbc_btc_club_btc_international

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 19:29:14 +0000

Club BTC International

Club BTC International was a BTC Donation Exchange/Investment club started by Dawid Dorfling that ran from January 2019 till August 2019 initially promising 30% weekly growth later moving to 70% per month

Links to MTI¹⁾ were mentioned in the official Telegram channel when the scheme collapsed

Management

Dawid Dorfling²⁾³⁾

Participants

Liz Malton⁴⁾

Belinda Van Zyl⁵⁾

In The News

Bitcoin “ponzi scheme” probe⁶⁾

Crypto Currency Organized Crime Investigation⁷⁾

Telegram Channel

https://t.me/s/tbcbtcinfo

¹⁾ , ⁴⁾ , ⁵⁾

²⁾ , ⁶⁾
https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/weekend-argus-saturday-edition/20200307/281728386572085

³⁾ , ⁷⁾
https://www.facebook.com/IRSinvestigations/posts/crypto-currency-organised-crime-investigationirs-can-confirm-that-we-have-been-f/3001529866545067/

the_billion_coin

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 21:03:42 +0000

thrive

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 06:47:28 +0000

Thrive International appears to be a pyramid scam with a convoluted attempt to sell advertising space and paying investors in BTC. The scam simply stopped functioning with no mention of it made after 2017¹⁾.

People Involved

Founder - James Francis²⁾

Willie Breedt³⁾

Scott Smith⁴⁾

Liz Malton⁵⁾

Clynton Marks

Johan van Wyk

¹⁾

²⁾
YouTube

³⁾
YouTube

⁴⁾
YouTube

⁵⁾
LinkedIn

tiaan_van_der_westhuizen

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:06:07 +0000

Tiaan van der Westhuizen

Bio

Co-founder⁸⁰⁾ and CFO⁸¹⁾ of finalmente⁸²⁾⁸³⁾. Subsequent to this screenshot being taken of his Linkedin⁸⁴⁾ the References to Finalmente have been removed. Resigned 2020-11-24 per CIPC⁸⁵⁾

Previous Schemes

Finalmente - Co-founder⁸⁶⁾ and CFO⁸⁷⁾

Globecoin (FCoin)

Crowd1

Pentatab

Plexcoin

Linkedin⁸⁸⁾ FB⁸⁹⁾

⁸⁰⁾ , ⁸¹⁾ , ⁸²⁾ , ⁸⁶⁾ , ⁸⁷⁾

⁸³⁾

⁸⁴⁾ , ⁸⁸⁾
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiaan-van-der-westhuizen-885326137/

⁸⁵⁾

⁸⁹⁾
https://www.facebook.com/tiaan.vanderwesthuizen.372

titancryptoclub

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 17:44:22 +0000

A Ponzi/pyramid that apparently pays dependent on the level you've purchased as well as the number of earning pools below you.¹⁾²⁾³⁾

In the Media

TITAN CRYPTO CLUB is a SCAM - Opera News

Titan Crypto Club Review: Ponzi or Not? Here’s What to Know - Coinfomania

¹⁾
Facebook Page

²⁾
Facebook Relaunch Page

³⁾
https://titancryptoclub.com/

tomfraser

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 09:34:39 +0000

Tom Fraser

Bio

Thomas William Fraser aka Tom Fraser,a longtime cohort of Johann Steynberg who participated in several schemes together with him¹⁾. He was described as a trusted advisor for Steynberg in MTI²⁾ and can also be found in the Metadata³⁾ for several documents relating to MTI. He also certified Johann Steynberg's Documents for what is suspected to have been MTI's meeting with the FSCA⁴⁾

Previous Schemes

Income Builder Portal

BTC Pro Mining

MTI⁵⁾

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/tomfraserjhb.

¹⁾

²⁾

³⁾

⁴⁾

⁵⁾

tony_degouveia

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 11:12:36 +0000

Tony de Gouveia

(MIRROR OF https://dishonest.wiki/doku.php?id=tonydegouveia)

Tony de Gouveia (full name Antonio Euclides Meneses de Gouveia) is a vocal promotor and scam kingpin of many multilevel marketing (MLM) companies and scams including:

Mannatech,

Lifestyle Galaxy,

Karatbars¹⁾. The source erroneously refers to Karatbars as “Carrot Bars”.

GSPartners, a reboot of Karatbars

Mannatech

Lifestyle Galaxy

Karatbars

Bitknock

Andreas Antonopoulos calls out Tony on Twitter

De Gouveia on the promo material for the 2019 Karatbars convention in Johannesburg with Andrew Eaton.

GSPartners

Tony can be seen in his GSPartners COUNCIL blazer from a press release on Cryptopolitan.com²⁾

https://www.facebook.com/TonyDeGouveia.SocialEntrepreneur/

https://twitter.com/tonydegouveia/

¹⁾
https://www.newsbtc.com/press-releases/how-tony-de-gouveia-built-a-successful-team/

²⁾
TONY DE GOUVEIA: BUILDING THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS WITH HEART AND HUSTLE | https://www.cryptopolitan.com/tony-de-gouveia-building-the-ultimate-business-with-heart-and-hustle/

tonydegouveia

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 11:12:49 +0000

Tony de Gouveia

Tony de Gouveia (full name Antonio Euclides Meneses de Gouveia) is a vocal promotor and scam kingpin of many multilevel marketing (MLM) companies and scams including:

Mannatech,

Lifestyle Galaxy,

Karatbars¹⁾. The source erroneously refers to Karatbars as “Carrot Bars”.

GSPartners, a reboot of Karatbars

Mannatech

Lifestyle Galaxy

Karatbars

Bitknock

Andreas Antonopoulos calls out Tony on Twitter

De Gouveia on the promo material for the 2019 Karatbars convention in Johannesburg with Andrew Eaton.

GSPartners

Tony can be seen in his GSPartners COUNCIL blazer from a press release on Cryptopolitan.com²⁾

https://www.facebook.com/TonyDeGouveia.SocialEntrepreneur/

https://twitter.com/tonydegouveia/

¹⁾
https://www.newsbtc.com/press-releases/how-tony-de-gouveia-built-a-successful-team/

²⁾
TONY DE GOUVEIA: BUILDING THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS WITH HEART AND HUSTLE | https://www.cryptopolitan.com/tony-de-gouveia-building-the-ultimate-business-with-heart-and-hustle/

torquebot

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:06:45 +0000

Torque Trading Systems (also known as Torque Bot) is a thinly-veiled Ponzi scheme with unrealistic payouts based on the Bitconnect formula.

As of 09-02-2021 they have seemingly Exit-scammed with the “Bad Trades” excuse

In the Media

TB Bob

trade300

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 20:17:34 +0000

Trade300

MTI's previous broker, FXChoice, confirmed that no AI trading took place from their account during the time that MTI was a client; instead, manual trades were made, which incurred substantial losses. MTI's account was subsequently closed by FXChoice due to non-compliance.

MTI claimed that they have moved to a new broker, but refused to identify the new broker to their members or the public.

This stance was changed recently, and Trade300 was given to the FSCA as the new broker for MTI. At the time that the FSCA investigated, the site was under maintenance.

5 days after Johann Steynberg was reported missing, the site was given a login page, and a product page. Two days later, the site was redirected to the MaxtraTech server MTI.

It's was widely believed that Trade300 was a fictitious broker, created by either Johann Steynberg, or other members of the MTI management. This supports the claims that there never was any trading that took place and that there was no AI bot The original site can be downloaded here - trade300.com ZIP file.

tshidiramanamane

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 09:31:01 +0000

Tshidi Ramanamane

DOB: 22/01/1979

Current schemes promoting¹⁾ -

PGI

PetronPay

QubitTech

MTI (Trainer and Presenter) ²⁾

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/tshidi.mabilo³⁾.

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tutorial

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:31:01 +0000

Introduction to Dokuwiki

This Youtube video is useful to get a basic understanding on how to create pages.

-

Information on how to use the Youtube embed plugin

https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:vshare

Syntax

Syntax for editing a page

twain2

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 04:41:36 +0000

There is now an offshoot scam operating as a classical 419, known only as Steven Twain is Back. It has gathered momentum by promising to return all stolen funds after a deposit of over $2500 is made to a BTC wallet controlled by the scammer.

From Facebook account - Steven Twain¹⁾ and Facebook account - Steven Twain is Back, it can be seen that he regularly shows finalised payments. Yet as can be seen from the above Mybroadband link, the wallet circles the majority of the funds back into the wallet²⁾.

Confirmed Message Regarding the Operation

¹⁾

²⁾

uhuru

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 19:59:56 +0000

Uhuru Tribe Review - BehindMLM

Uhuru Tribe Ponzi collapses Rebooted as CBI Global - BehindMLM

usherbell

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 04:55:44 +0000

Promoter of MTI.

Companies

Directorship Registration Number Director Type Director Status

JOYFUL NOISE MINISTRIES (CAPE) 2004/019697/08 Director Active

FINE VISION INVESTMENTS 58 2005/035940/07 Director Active

DRE PROPERTIES AND INVESTMENTS 2017/224354/07 Director Active

ZAMAR ENTERTAINMENT 2007/016884/23 Member Active

DRE PROPERTIES AND INVESTMENTS 1999/005850/23 Member Active

ZIMZENI 152 2005/157249/23 Member Active

vaughngonzalvers

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:28:14 +0000

Facebook page - https://m.facebook.com/Mirror-Trading-International-GAME-Changer-109342377147518.

vaultagesolutions

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 15:03:59 +0000

Persons Involved

Willie Breedt

Vaultage Solutions seems to have been funded by Willie using the money he gained in BTC Global. His trading scam was hidden behind a website for his “Events Company” The actual info on the trading and Willie was hidden on the About Us page of the Vaultage Solutions Website.

In the media

Vaultage Solutions CEO goes into hiding to avoid cryptocurrency investors - ZDNet

Lawyer in Vaultage Solutions case provides an update on proceedings - Roodepoort Record

veribull

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 16:07:38 +0000

A scam created by scammers.

Auvoria Prime Review: Eaconomy securities fraud reboot - BehindMLM

vickstrizheus

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 03:47:26 +0000

Known scam artist promoting 7k Metals¹⁾.

In the Media

Vick Strizheus – Scammed By A Mastermind - Online Scam Detective

¹⁾
Miles Seger Facebook page

vinceward

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:21:43 +0000

Vincent "Vince" Ward

Previous Schemes

MTI¹⁾

Syntek Global²⁾

Bio

Vincent “Vince” Ward, born 28 May 1990 is currently the Head of International Expansion at Mirror Trading International. He is also the brother of Cheri Ward. He was previously involved in Syntek³⁾ and has a long-standing history of interest in MLMs⁴⁾.

He seemingly shares his sister's love for the finer things in life, pictured below with a R1.7m Range Rover Sport which was bought with the ill gotten gains from MTI. Vince seems to also share his sister's short temper, swearing at a member of the public questioning the legitimacy of where he obtained the funds to purchase the vehicle.

Although the logical and rational plan of action would be to offer messages of support and join the search party after the disappearance of Johann Steynberg in December 2020, Charlie and other directors of MTI displayed bizarre and unsound behavior.

Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Vince proceeded to scrub his Facebook account of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

This tactic can be seen in that individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing before moving on to the next scam. Unfortunately this has the opposite effect as it gives the impression that these promoters were aware the companies they were promoting were scams since the beginning, and the only reason they promote these companies is for personal gain.

Photo Gallery

References & Links

https://www.facebook.com/vince.ward.7

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vizionary

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 17:56:04 +0000

https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/vizionary-review/

volishon

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:39:34 +0000

People Involved

Joel Santiago

In the News

Volishon Review: Travel, recruitment & potential Ponzi - BehindMLM

Volishon in “total shambles”, says former affiliate - BehindMLM

Volishon is not a scam - YouTube

werner_hattingh

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 08:03:53 +0000

Werner Hattingh

Previous Schemes

Mirror Trading International¹⁾

Bitclub Network²⁾

Vizionary

Dragon Mine

Lifestyle Galaxy

Coinomia

Lara With Me

Saivian

Generational Wealth System

MMM³⁾⁴⁾

MyDailyChoice⁵⁾

protravelplus

Kerching⁶⁾

Recyclix

Kibo

4Corners

Tsunation

* Attributed by Cheri as being Part of:

Syntek Global⁷⁾⁸⁾

Kipi⁹⁾

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMX4lTicEcVHqEd7g6yUkyQ/videos https://twitter.com/mycoinsa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9GQ5-dSeGabkCiPEvGUPJw https://www.facebook.com/werner.hattingh https://www.youtube.com/c/WernerHattingh/videos https://www.facebook.com/wernerhattinghmarketing

¹⁾
werner_hattingh_mti.png

²⁾
https://bitclubnetwork.com/mycoinsa/signup.html

³⁾ , ⁷⁾ , ⁹⁾
http://thetruthaboutbtcg.weebly.com/about-cheri.html

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wesley_jeftha

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:43:46 +0000

Wesley Jeftha

Runs a Channel/Team/Business called Stress Free Income¹⁾ with David Venter. Ironically has a video on how to identify Ponzi/Pyramid schemes on their Business Youtube

Previous Schemes

Finalmente²⁾

Finiko³⁾

Forsage⁴⁾

Other Links

Facebook1

Facebook2

Freelancer Link

¹⁾

²⁾ , ³⁾

⁴⁾

williebreedt

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 18:13:01 +0000

Willie Breedt

Willie Breedt is a career ponzi enthusiast. He was the CEO & Founder of Vaultage Solutions the investment scam that defrauded investors in excess of USD13m.

Willie fled his home in the Eastern Cape and went into hiding after Vaultage Solutions went bust, but debt collectors traced and found him in a guest house in Pretoria, Gauteng.

One disgruntled investor managed to obtain a sequestration order against Willie, and the High Court declared him as bankrupt. The Hawks is currently investigating Willie in a case of fraud.

Willie's involvement in his past scams have not deterred him to partake and promote new scams. Previously involved in Thrive International with Liz Malton, Clynton Marks, Johan van Wyk, and Scott Smith, Willie is currently involved in Mirror Trading International as a VP. Willies current fraud charges did not deter him from joining MTI, as the 2 scams where basically running concurrently. From the MTI hacks it has been determined that he has already made more than R700 000, although he has not deposited any money. He has “earned” R303 908.35 from the Founder's pool, R428 647.19 as ROI and R64 453.66 from his two down lines.¹⁾

Following the disappearance of Johann Steynberg, Willie proceeded to scrub his Facebook account of any information relating to MTI. This is a common exit strategy for promoters and shills to “wash” their social media accounts and delete any evidence that they were involved in past scams upon the collapse.

This tactic can be seen that individuals try to hide and indemnify themselves from any wrongdoing before moving on to the next scam. Unfortunately this has the opposite effect as it gives the impression that these promoters were aware the companies they were promoting were scams since the beginning, and the only reason they promote these companies is for personal gain.

Involved In ...

Vaultage Solutions

MTI

My Daily Choice²⁾

Thrive International³⁾

Saivian⁴⁾

In the News

Lawyer in Vaultage Solutions case provides update on proceedings - Roodepoort Record

Investors head to High Court after cryptocurrency CEO fails to pay back millions - News 24

¹⁾

²⁾

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⁴⁾

wiseling

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 May 2021 15:27:41 +0000

Wiseling

Wiseling is described as an investment site

Background

Official name Wiseling

Website http://www.wiseling.com

Launched Oct 2020

Type of Scheme Investment Ponzi MLM

Type of Exit Compliance Issue

Info

Started by Matias Lappo (CEO and co-founder)(Confirmed to be actor) and Elias Mattila (Co-founder and Vice Chairman). Wiseling collapsed as of 15 Feb 2021

Other Links

BehindMLM review - https://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/wiseling-review-daily-returns-ponzi-scheme/

work_your_wealth

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 May 2021 08:56:15 +0000

Work Your Wealth

Run by Conray Labuschagne and Ewoudt Labuschagne. Recently received a warning from the FSCA

FSCA Warning

The FSCA said in a statement it suspected that Work Your Wealth, Conray Labuschagne and Ewoudt Labuschagne were conducting unauthorised financial services business and breaching various financial sector laws.

Companies Promoted

Dragon Mine

Lifestyle Galaxy

Other Links

FSCA Warning - https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/fsca-issues-warning-over-investing-in-work-your-wealth-a82d8516-2c78-408a-a41a-3119a86930d0

zarfund

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 08:23:30 +0000

Zarfund A South-African Matrix-based BTC Donation scam

* Known Participants *

Mike Simmonds

¹⁾

¹⁾
zarfund_matrix.png

zurfin

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 06:16:43 +0000

Sipho Ndaba's company to tout his various coin-exchange referral links, as well as MTI and Hyperfund.

Website - https://zurfin.com/company-profile/

Official name	GSPartners, Gold Standard Bank, Swiss Valorem Bank
Website	http://gspartners.global/
Launched	15 Oct 2020, GSB Gold Standard Group
Contributors	Josip Heit, Alex Cocindau

Official name	Mirror Trading International
Website	https://mirrortradinginternational.com/
Launched	July 2019
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi MLM
Type of Exit	Hacking/Missing CEO

Official name	Praetorian Group International
Website	http://www.pgiglobal.trade
Launched	April 2020
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi MLM
Type of Exit	Website Offline

Official name	QZ Asset Management
Website	https://qzinvest.com/
Launched	Late in 2022
Founder	Blake Yeung Pu Lei

Official name	Redox Trades LLC
Website	https://www.redoxtradesllc.com/
Launched	Unknown
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi
Type of Exit	Slowed Payouts
Exit-excuse	Double Payments

Official name	Silgonex
Website	https://silgonex.com/
Launched	~April 2020
Type of Scheme	Asset-backed Crypto Ponzi
Type of Exit	Payments stopped

Official name	Tariomix
Website	https://www.tariomix.co.za/
Launched	Unknown
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi
Type of Exit	Stopped Payouts

Official name	Wiseling
Website	http://www.wiseling.com
Launched	Oct 2020
Type of Scheme	Investment Ponzi MLM
Type of Exit	Compliance Issue