[FROM THE ARCHIVE] Smoke and Mirror Trading International

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟳 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭. UPDATE: In March 2021, MTI liquidators were able to recover 1281 Bitcoin amounting to approximately R1.1 billion in value. However, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) lodged a claim of R931,121,989.35 against MTI's estate, alleging the liquidators failed to submit tax returns on the recovered Bitcoin amount. This is a developing story. The Cape High Court has set four provisional liquidators the task of tracking down assets that can still be found after the mammoth Mirror Trading International shut down in December 2020 – this after numerous investors were unable to withdraw their money. Marketed as a multilevel bitcoin investment scheme and valued at up to R9 billion, MTI claim they’ve made up to 10% in returns per month using a computerised trading system. But why was the Financial Sector Conduct Authority unable to find evidence of trading success by the company? Has the CEO really disappeared as has been widely reported? Carte Blanche reveals how 300,000 members were duped out of their life savings as investigators try to account for nearly 23,000 Bitcoin.