In April, Johann Steynberg was fined by the US CFTC and ordered to pay $3.4 billion to the victims of his cyber crimes.
MyBroadband Editor Jan Vermeulen joins Bruce Whitfield on The Money Show to give an update on the case of Mirror Trading International (MTI) CEO Johann Steynberg.
The South African businessman man behind a multi-billion rand bitcoin trading scam has been found guilty by a court in Brazil, but NOT for the crimes of which many who fell victim to his shady dealings would like to see him convicted.
Cornelius Johannes Steynberg (who also goes by Johann Steynberg and Joe Steyn) is a South African businessman from Stellenbosch who has been dubbed as the ‘mastermind’ behind the ‘biggest crypto pyramid scheme’ through his business Mirror Trading International (MTI).
According to MyBroadband, MTI was a ”Bitcoin-based network marketing scam that began in South Africa and drew in members worldwide.”
Steynberg travelled to Brazil in 2020 and disappeared soon after.
In April, Steynberg was fined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and ordered to pay $3.4 billion (about R62.5 billion) to the victims of his cyber crimes.
[Police] picked him up after he flashed an allegedly forged ID document, which is a crime in Brazil.
Jan Vermeulen, Editor – Mybroadband
Steynberg lived in a fairly unknown part of Brazil and was in relationships with two women.
Upon his arrest, Steynberg denied any knowledge of using fake IDs found by police at his residence, but allegedly said he had them because his life was in danger in South Africa.
He’s in a prison in a city called Goiânia in a state called Goiás.
Jan Vermeulen, Editor – Mybroadband
The defence alleges that there was no Interpol notice, and there are no warrants of arrest for him.
Jan Vermeulen, Editor – Mybroadband
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