The celeb and the crypto scheme

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟵 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. Traded on the black market, it’s highly lucrative. From diesel skimming to tanker hijackings and petrol depot robberies: over the years, Carte Blanche has investigated multiple criminal networks fuelling the illicit trade in what's known as liquid gold. But as old schemes are exposed, criminals evolve. Now fuel spiking – blending diesel with cheaper ingredients, often paraffin – has taken off on an industrial level. It’s a criminal MO affecting every South African and costing the country millions of every day.  After several months investigating these illicit operations, we uncover an elaborate cross-border tax fraud scheme.  Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟯 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. He was a model citizen in the farming community of Barkly East in the Eastern Cape. A God-fearing commercial farmer with a loyal circle of friends. He was wealthy, too, by all accounts and promised similar riches for some of his closest friends and several others from a lucrative investment project. It was a simple blueprint: his investors would buy cattle and sheep and he would farm them on their behalf. Leaning on their shared religious devotion, his investment base grew impressively and his scheme blossomed into a multi-million rand operation. Then, as they so often do, things turned sour and what appeared a legitimate and profitable business imploded. The investors, the majority of whom are pensioners, lost everything. Carte Blanche investigates. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. Earlier this month, Carte Blanche investigated a multi-million rand Ponzi scheme that involved purchasing luxury vehicles without ever paying a loan instalment. The wheels eventually came off in spectacular fashion. Then, days after our broadcast, viewers sent us stories of how they had fallen victim to a more complex but similar scam. We investigate an intricate “ride to own” scheme which had some motorists owning multiple vehicles that they weren’t paying for and never took possession of. Now, the banks are owed more than R500 million and numerous vehicles have gone missing – stripped and resold for parts by a shady dealership. The Hawks are investigating but for the so-called victims, it’s time to pay up. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟱 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯. In April this year, Gauteng police tracked a stolen vehicle in Hammanskraal. In a panic, the driver told officers a bizarre story that soon had them investigating a different case - an elaborate scheme involving murder and an insurance pay-out close to R2 million. A year before police caught him behind the wheel of the stolen car, Sibusiso Mahlangu had faked his own death in a tragic house fire. But the badly burnt body found in the rubble in fact belonged to Sibusiso Sithebe, the former lover of Mahlangu’s wife, Lerato. For a while, the couple got away undetected with Sithebe’s multi-million-rand life insurance cover... until the wheels came off their devious plan. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv