The founders of South Africa’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Africrypt have disappeared along with nearly $3.6 billion in bitcoin after telling investors that the exchange had been hacked.
Africrypt chief operating officer Ameer Cajee 17 and his brother Raees 20 had set up Africrypt in 2019. Currently, the companies website is down and the Calls to Cajees mobile number goes to a voicemail.
The Cape Town law firm Hanekom attorneys hired by investors said they couldn’t locate the brothers. The law firm has reported the whole matter to The South Africa police force Hawks. They also told crypto exchanges worldwide if brothers try to convert the digital coins to cash.
All total about 69000 bitcoins are missing from the firm. While they were worth $3.6 billion at the time of disappearance and more than $4 billion at their April peak. This would go down as the largest cryptocurrency loss in history.
The firms’ investigation found Africrypts’ pooled funds were transferred from its South African account and client wallet.
Signs of trouble
The sign of trouble had started in April when Africrypt warned the client of a hack when Bitcoin was at its highest. Oddly asked the client not to report the incident to authorities claiming it would slow down the recovery process of missing funds.
“We were immediately suspicious as the announcement implored investors not to take action,” Hanekom Attorneys said in response to an emailed question. “Africrypt employees lost access to the back-end platform seven days after the alleged hack.”
Since cryptocurrency isn’t a legal financial product in the country, it complicates for the authorities to look into Africrypt. South Africa Finance sector conduct authority normally handles these matters. However, they are unable to start a formal investigation in this matter.
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