Ponzi Record

South Africa (operated internationally) ยท To December 2020 (provisional liquidation on 29 December 2020)

Mirror Trading International (MTI)

According to MyBroadband, MTI promised average monthly bitcoin returns of 10 percent from trading. The High Court found that the artificial intelligence trading bot "never existed or traded", and found that MTI ran a Ponzi scheme that also operated as a pyramid scheme.1,2

Losses as statedThe High Court recorded that about 2,600 bitcoin in withdrawal requests were never paid and that the liquidators could find only about 1,280 bitcoin. Daily Maverick cited the 2021 Crypto Crime Report as saying MTI received $588 million (R8.5 billion) in bitcoin.1,3
Victims as statedAn expert cited in the judgment estimated about 200,000 investors, ignoring duplicate and dormant accounts.
Recovered for investorsNot confirmed from the liquidators in the sources reviewed.

People and outcomes

Mirror Trading International (Pty) Ltd (company)

Placed in provisional winding up on 29 December 2020 and final winding up on 30 June 2021, the High Court recorded. On 26 April 2023, in Bester N.O. and Others v Mirror Trading International, acting judge De Wet of the Western Cape High Court declared MTI's business model an illegal and unlawful scheme and declared its agreements with investors void from the outset. The court found that MTI's business "clearly amounted to an unlawful ponzi-scheme" and that it could not seriously be argued that MTI did not conduct a pyramid scheme.1,2

Response: No company response is recorded in the sources reviewed. The company was in liquidation and the application was brought by its liquidators.1

Timeline

  1. MTI placed in provisional winding up.1,2
  2. Final winding up order.1,2
  3. Western Cape High Court declares MTI's business model an unlawful scheme and investor agreements void.1,3

Sources

  1. High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division (via SAFLII), Bester N.O. and Others v Mirror Trading International (Pty) Ltd (in liquidation) t/a MTI and Others [2023] ZAWCHC 83 (26 April 2023)
  2. MyBroadband, Mirror Trading International declared a pyramid scheme (April 2023)
  3. Daily Maverick, More billions wasted, the smoke is clearing on Mirror Trading International (3 May 2023)