Two South African brothers recently vanished with $3.6 billion (around R56 billion) worth of bitcoin in what could potentially be the biggest crypto currency heist in history.
In 2019, the two brothers Ameer Cajee and his younger brother, Raees Cajee, founded crypto investment app Africrypt. Shortly afterwards, the siblings vanished with 69,000 bitcoins worth roughly $4 billion (R56 billion).
Ameer, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, informed their clients that the security setup of Africrypt was hacked which compromised their accounts, wallets, and nodes.
In an unusual step, Ameer, 20, warned employees not to involve the authorities as that would impede any attempt to recover the account. There were a few suspicious customers reported the hack. The customers contracted Hanekom Attorneys who attempted to track the brothers down. Their efforts were unsuccessful which necessitated the Hawks involvement—a police unit in South Africa that targets crime and corruption.
“We were immediately suspicious as the announcement implored investors not to take legal action,” Hanekom Attorneys said in a mail. Africrypt employees lost access to the back-end platforms seven days before the alleged hack.”
The lawyers also alerted crypto currency exchanges around the world to sound an alarm if they noticed any suspicious conversion of bitcoins.
The FNB denied any involvement after being questioned in connection with the scam.
“FNB once again confirms that it does not have a banking relationship with Africrypt. Due to client confidentiality, FNB cannot provide any information on specific bank accounts,” Nadiah Maharaj, FNB risk spokesperson said.
Frantic efforts to find the brothers have failed.
South Africa’s Finance Sector Conduct Authority, the country’s financial institutions regulator, said crypto currency-related matters do not fall under its jurisdiction.
Most recently, the Bank for International Settlement criticized the digital asset for its role in illegal activities.
“By now, it is clear that crypto currencies are speculative assets rather than money, and in many cases are used to facilitate money laundering, ransomware attacks, and other financial crimes” BIS said.
